


But Love is a Blood Sport, Baby

by xRWBY (xtracurricular)



Series: The Prologues [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blake introspection, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Love Confessions, Mud, No Ozpin reincarnation (yet), No Salem (yet), No attack on Haven, Original Character(s), Original Grimm(?), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rating May Change, Takes place during season 5, Team Dynamics, The archive warning is there for safety, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Yang Xiao Long Angst, Yang Xiao Long Being Yang Xiao Long, Yang and Weiss friendship, Yang introspection, Yangst, also post season 5, and Heroes and Monsters happened, important to note that this fic does NOT follow several canon events, mentions of amputation, pyrrha did still die tho im so sorry, that tag is very good lol, the warning is only for chapter 1, there is a wound description but no fighting, xRWBY's Huntress AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2020-05-02 08:06:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19194967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtracurricular/pseuds/xRWBY
Summary: Blake left her, and so she tries to stitch herself back together after the worst-case-scenario. Yang eventually finds herself in Mistral to seek out her sister. When Blake comes back, she and Yang try to figure themselves out. Back in school, this time at Haven, they have the chance to fix things.





	1. Stitches

The wind whipped Yang’s face as she sped along a desolate Mistrali road, her blonde hair blowing wildly behind her. A pair of aviators dulled the glare of the sun overhead and protected her from the dirt picked up by the wind. Underneath them, her eyes were glazed over, absently registering minute changes in the dirt under Bumblebee’s wheels. Trees and bushes were just blurs in her peripheral vision.

The boat ride from Vale had left her restless and she had been itching for the thrill of riding again. She’d found only momentary satisfaction from revving Bumblebee’s engine and taking off from the docks a few hours ago. There was too much on her mind. Riding usually cleared her head, but not when she was using it to get her somewhere she really didn’t want to go. 

But she needed answers. Moreover, she needed to find her sister, and the answers she was looking for would hopefully get her there. 

Another hour or so and she would need to fill up Bumblebee. Luckily, the map on her scroll said there was a filling station a few miles up the road. Hopefully it was still there.

-x-

The station, “Just Rite” was empty save for the clerk. Yang grilled him for information about bandit activity and he spilled that an “unsavory type” had just left before she’d gotten there. Dammit. She cracked the counter with her hand when she frustratedly brought her fist down on it, so she tipped the guy extra and got out quick. She usually kept a cooler head… Her left hand shook until she stilled it with a cold metal grip. Hopping back on Bumblebee, she started her up. Her body vibrated with the rumbling engine, and with wheels screeching, she headed off down the road.

Yang was used to motorcycle travel, but Patch was small, and Vale had a lot of twists, turns, and distractions. Mistral though… this road had been just straight for miles, the surface changed from dirt to worn cobblestone occasionally, but there was maybe one curve that, itself, lasted half a mile. That and she hadn’t seen another soul, not one person she had to pass or avoid. And she was getting tired.

-x-

Mistral was known for its wind, and in the south, in its placid summer months, it was said its soft summer zephyrs could carry your worries away like flower petals. Whether that was some old philosopher’s actual feelings, or a clever proverb to help one relax in a world that contained monsters who fed on fear, Yang felt it just a bit.

The sound of Bumblebee was white noise, and the constant flow of air as she flew down the road felt like a cool blanket against the heat of late summer. Her eyes felt droopy, and she kept having to shake her head to keep herself from closing them. She tried hard to fight it, but hell, why shouldn’t she just stop and rest?

When she flitted her gaze up to check the road her heart nearly stopped. _He_ was there, weapon brandished, standing directly in her path. She couldn’t stop her own scream of panic as she jerked the handlebars to the side and swerved Bumblebee off the road. She lost control of her bike almost immediately, and felt it wobble, dipping side to side. Before it fell completely, she bailed, holding her arms out to shield her face. She skidded and rolled to a stop, her knees, forearm, and elbow were raw and quickly bruising.

She groaned as she raised herself up by her hands, shaking. Thank fuck she hadn’t left her helmet at home. She opened her eyes and bleakly observed that a lens from her sunglasses had shattered. Slowly, wincing as she kneeled, she rose up onto her feet. She could hear Bumblebee’s stalled engine a few feet away, but she had her eyes glued to the spot where she was sure he had been standing.

But he wasn’t there, of course he wasn’t there. She clenched her fists, her heart still hammering away in her chest. She trembled against her will.

“Fuck…” She let out a shaky breath. She forced herself to look elsewhere and willed her feet to move. As she somberly made her way over to where Bumblebee laid, wheels still lazily spinning, she tossed her broken shades into the grass on the side of the road. She grabbed Bumblebee’s handlebars and heaved it upright. 

Before she could swing her leg back over the seat and walk Bumblebee back into the road, what sounded like a car crash ripped her attention away. The ground shook not a millisecond later. It had come from just past the thicket of trees to her left. Without hesitation, Yang removed the key from Bumblebee and let her fall back onto the ground, racing toward the sound’s source.

When she broke through the trees what first caught her eyes was the great blue expanse of Lake Matsu, stretching almost past the horizon. The second thing that she saw was the thick column of black smoke that bled from a downed airship. Her eyes widened at the scene; it was so totaled it was barely recognizable, and flames licked at the underside of it. 

As Yang sprinted over, boots sliding on the thick, packed mud that made up the lake’s shore, she saw a figure, sprawled out on the ground a few feet away from the crash. From about twenty feet away Yang noticed the figure’s pale complexion and stark hair. It was so familiar… She looked like…

“Weiss!?” Yang slid to a stop on her knees, ignoring the pain of her road-rash. She grabbed the girl’s shoulders and lifted her up. “Weiss!” 

Weiss’ face scrunched up, and Yang heaved a sigh, relief washing over her at the sight of her friend moving. Weiss groaned and placed her hands on Yang’s arms, struggling to open her eyes. The dirt that covered her face was interrupted by rivulets of what was either sweat or lake water, or both, and Yang did her best to clear some away from her eyes and mouth. Weiss reached up herself to rub her eyes and then they opened fully. Yang felt her jump in shock.

“Yang!?” She was uncharacteristically loud, and Yang was nearly fucking crying. Her face hurt at how much she was smiling. 

“Sup, princess?” Weiss tilted her head.

“What!?” Yang figured her ears were probably ringing from the crash. Before she could pull Weiss into a hug, a crunching sound came from the airship, which was now sporting a significantly greater amount of fire. But then Yang heard a voice she couldn’t quite make out.

Weiss swiveled around, following Yang’s gaze. She gasped and stood up fast, stumbling forward.

“The pilot!”

“Oh shit!” Yang raced past Weiss and approached the wreckage of the airship.

A man dressed in an Atlas pilot uniform was pulling himself forward, fingers digging into the mud which was caked on his entire torso. Yang grabbed his hands and pulled as hard as she could. As soon as she thought she had the pilot completely out from under the wreckage, he cried out in pain.

“M-M’ leg’s stuck!” Yang swore and let go of his hands, crawling over to where his leg was caught. It was a gruesome sight that Yang didn’t fully take in because the flames were nearly blocking her view. The metal bits she would have to move to get him free would be far too hot to grab onto.

Wait, no, she could. She grabbed onto a flaming chunk of metal with her robotic palm and wrenched it to the side, exposing the pilot’s calf. Seeing exactly what was holding him allowed her to reach inside and move it. As she did so she heard glass shatter.

“Yang, watch out!”

Yang looked up in time to see a bright blue glyph over her and the pilot, suspending what Yang could just make out as shards of glass a few feet above her. Moving quickly, she dragged the pilot free of the wreckage and cleared Weiss’ glyph. It immediately disappeared and she watched the glass fall harmlessly to the ground where she had just been crouching.

Yeah, that would have done a bit of damage. She looked back towards Weiss to see her kneeling down on the ground and lowering Myternaster, panting. Yang smiled over at her as she laid the pilot on his back in front of her. His visor was completely shattered, and warm brown eyes looked up at Weiss.

“You saved my life, Ms. Schnee.” He croaked out. Weiss blew a strand of hair out of her face and averted her eyes.

“You’re welcome, but just be glad I didn’t completely run out of Aura when I saved us both from lancers a minute ago.” Yang smirked a bit at her response, same old Weiss. The familiarity was unexpectedly comforting, filling Yang with a peculiar warmth in her chest. It felt… Kind of like she was closer to home.

“Wouldn’t consider crashing my ship in the category of being “saved”—" the pilot coughed out a sardonic laugh that turned into an actual coughing fit. He took a deep breath and turned his head to look at Yang. “Thank you too, by the way, I would definitely be dead if not for your help.”

Yang nodded with a brief smile but glanced down at his leg again and winced.

“Hey, not to be a downer, but you’re not outta the woods yet. That leg is pretty bad.” Yang pointed out. The pilot groaned and gritted his teeth.

“Yeah, starting to feel that now.”

Yang looked up into the sky and sighed. The mud was starting to dry on her hands.

“Listen, I’ve got a motorcycle about a hundred feet that way,” Yang points in the direction of the road. She was relatively sure Bumblebee could carry three people. “If we can get you on it, there’s a gas station not far from here.”

“A gas station?” The pilot questioned.

“It’s either that or you ride on the back of a bike for like three hours without stopping.”

“I… I get your point.” He leaned up onto his elbows. “Alright, gas station it is.” Yang stood up and looked at Weiss just in time to see her nearly gag at the sight of the pilot’s leg. Yang gave her a sympathetic look and stepped over the pilot to help her up.

“Wanna help me carry this dude back to Bumblebee?”

“Not particularly.” Weiss sighed and reached down, offering a hand to the pilot, Yang stepped over to his other side and did the same. He hoisted himself up with their help, leaning on their shoulders for support. The trio then slowly made their way back to the dirt road where Yang’s bike waited.

-x-

The bell over the door of the Just Rite rang as Yang burst through the door, followed by Weiss who was helping the pilot hobble through.

“You again? Weren’t you going off to find some bandits—oh, Dust, is he okay?” The clerk stumbled out from behind the counter and rushed over to the pilot who looked ready to pass out.

“No, can you get an ambulance out here?” Yang knew she looked intense and that it was intimidating the poor guy, but she just had to endure a dude howling in pain for almost an hour, and she was in no mood to waste time.

“Y-yeah, oh hell…” The clerk bolted into the back room of the Just Rite. Yang looked around the shop for somewhere to at least let the pilot sit. Barstools wouldn’t do, and there were no booths… She strode over to the bar and cleared off most of the counter.

“Weiss, help me get him up here.”

“Okay.” She and Weiss managed to lift the pilot onto the surface of the counter, a salt and pepper shaker or two falling over in the process. He groaned as they did so.

Before they had gotten on Bumblebee, Yang pulled an emergency med-kit out of one of the saddlebags and quickly dressed the pilot’s wounds. It was difficult to cover everything, it was torn up badly, and Yang’s ‘patching up’ just ended up looking like a mess of tape and gauze.

But now, from his heel to his knee, there was a sickening discoloration on top of what was already sliced and burned. ‘It looked bad’ would have been a grave understatement.

Weiss looked like she was going to be sick. Yang placed her hand on her shoulder and comfortingly stroked it with her thumb. Weiss looked up at her.

“You look like you need some air.” Yang offered.

“Yeah,” Weiss ran a hand through her bangs and then examined it. It was caked in grime and Weiss frowned as she realized that probably got in her hair. “actually I think I’m gonna go wash up…” Yang snickered softly.

“Go ahead, Princess.” Weiss rolled her eyes and briskly walked to the restrooms.

The clerk finally emerged from the back, nearly out of breath.

“Alright there’s an emergency airship on its way, they’ll be here soon—oh, Gods…” The clerk’s eyes had wandered to the pilot’s wounds. “Let’s hope they really do get here soon.”

The pilot raised his head to look at the clerk.

“It’s that bad?”

The clerk slowly shook his head, crossing his arms.

“A few years back a… gaggle of those bandits from Kuchinashi held me up while one of their lot called an emergency number in the back. One of them had a bad run-in with a Grimm or maybe another bandit tribe, I don’t know. In any case, there was a delay and that hurt bandit’s whole leg looked a bit like yours there… When the airship finally got here the other bandits just left the guy and ran out the back, and the emergency tech got to their man but…” The clerk paused and scratched the top of his head. “Well, they had to chop off the damn thing in the parking lot before they even got him on board.”

Yang winced. The pilot’s eyes were wide, and he was as white as a sheet.

“Ch-chop it off? We have the technology to fix my leg though, I know we do! M-my boyfriend, he’s a field surgeon, back in Atlas!”

“We aren’t in Atlas,” the clerk sounded bitter “I’m sorry, your folk don’t share their ‘latest and greatest’ medical technology with us or any other continent.” The pilot closed his eyes and it sounded like he was starting to hyperventilate. “Hey, it’s not like they aren’t coming, you’re gonna be okay.” The clerk softened his tone when he realized he was sending the pilot into a panic.

“I’m not gonna be okay, they’re going to chop my fucking leg off!” The pilot’s eyes were wild when he opened them, and he started wheezing. “I can’t lose my leg, sir, please, I can’t!” Yang had enough.

“ **Hey!** ”

Her voice boomed over the pilot’s panicking, snapping his and the clerk’s attention to her. She had a vice grip on the pilot’s arm, with her left hand. It was half to keep the pilot from passing out, and half to keep her own hand from shaking. She raised her right arm into the pilot’s view, metal glinting off the lights overhead.

“Losing a limb isn’t the end of the fucking world.” She glared at the pilot. “This is Atlas tech; you should recognize it. You’re in the airfleet, right?” The pilot’s breathing had slowed.

“Y-yes, ma’am.”

“You answer to Ironwood?”

“Everyone does.”

“Good, when you get back home get a message to him while you’re healing up. Let him know that…” She took a moment to think of an actual message. “Yang Xiao Long, that’s me by the way, appreciates the gift he sent. And tell him I’m asking him for another favor, that being a new leg for you, if you end up needing it… Got it?”

“Yeah…” 

“See, you’ll be fine.” She patted him roughly on the cheek. She hoped he would be, at least. And she hoped that what she just asked him to do actually worked. 

“Gods… Ms. Xiao Long, I’m sorry.” The pilot uttered the apology quietly, like he just realized he’d been acting hysterical. Yang closed her eyes, trying not to grimace at the man’s clear pity.

“It’s just Yang.” She opened her eyes and turned to the clerk. “You’ll be alright if my friend and I leave?” He nodded.

“I’ll keep our friend here cared for until the airship gets here, you… You’re sure you’re not a Huntress, kid?” Yang let out a short laugh.

“Yeah, why?”

“Well, from what I’ve seen, you’re harder than any Huntress or Huntsman I’ve ever seen come through here. And you’re twice as tough as any bandit I’ve had the misfortune of meetin’.” He crossed his arms again. “You and your friend, you still going after those bandits?” Yang shook her head.

“Nah, saving those bastards for later.” The clerk smiled ruefully and shook his head, looking down at his shoes.

“You’re welcome to take a few drinks and snacks on the house, I’m gonna get this man some water.” The clerk rounded the corner of the bar and started picking out a glass. Yang grabbed a couple of water bottles from the refrigerated display of “Cold Drinks” and combed the isles for some snacks that would last in her saddlebags. 

Weiss emerged from the restroom as Yang was finishing up, she looked so squeaky clean that Yang wondered if she hid extra soap in her Dust pouch. Actually, knowing her, she probably did. Weiss approached Yang and leaned over to see what kind of snacks she had before recoiling and quickly going down another isle, rummaging through some items, and returning to Yang’s side. She then proceeded to spray a small bottle of cheap body spray in a cloud around Yang.

“You smell **so** bad.” She pointed out bluntly, with a sheepish smile.

Yang nearly choked as she laughed, inadvertently breathing in some of the spray. And Gods, it had been a really long time since she’d laughed like that. 

When the two finally made their way out of the Just Rite, Yang packed away their provisions into Bumblebee’s saddlebags, making sure not to loosen the makeshift strap holding the case for Myternaster to her bike, and stood upright, looking out over the landscape. It was getting into the afternoon, and the sun would start setting in a few hours. 

“We should get going—” She turned around and was immediately greeted with a hug from Weiss. It was tight, almost desperate. Weiss’ arms were wrapped around her neck, and even in heels, she had to stand on her toes in order to wrap them as tightly as they were. Yang felt Weiss take in a shaky breath, and she could’ve sworn she heard a bit of sniffling as she wrapped her own arms around Weiss’ torso.

“I missed you so much.” Weiss’ voice trembled just a touch, and Yang was glad Weiss couldn’t see the tears that started rolling down her cheeks. She lifted a hand up to cup the back of Weiss’ head, pulling her in closer.

“I missed you too.”

-x-

It took two more days to reach the city of Mistral. Within a few hours, and a lot of asking around, the two girls were finally able to find where Ruby and the rest of their friends were staying.

The reunion was tearful and heartwarming, it was an amazing distraction for Yang. She lived for those now. When she was with Weiss, Ruby, Nora, and everyone, it was easy to forget about everything else. It was easy to forget about her mother, easy to ignore her trauma, easy to pretend that stuff didn’t exist.

But it was all bittersweet… The house was full of distractions, but at night, when Yang had to try and sleep, alone in the room she chose, distractions meant close to nothing. It didn’t help that there was an empty bed across from hers, and it certainly didn’t help that she’d dug that picture out of her jacket and left it on the nightstand next to her.

It always took a few hours of beating back intrusive thoughts before she actually fell asleep these days. And they would just keep coming. And they hurt. And she was tired.

-x-

Yang hadn’t been expecting things to turn around in her world so quickly. She expected positive outcomes to arrive sluggishly, like positive thoughts in her head. Mistral seemed to be determined to prove her wrong, though, as Qrow came home (half as drunk as usual) and announced that Lionheart agreed to reopen Haven for the upcoming fall semester.

Just like that, things would start getting back to normal. Life wouldn’t be full of waiting and restlessness like it had been for the past several months. She would finally be in a routine again, something solid to guide her along day to day. 

Team JNR took to the city to buy school supplies a few days after the announcement and brought back far too many notebooks, folders, binders, and unnecessary extras. Naturally, her team acquired armfuls of said supplies and spread them all out in the middle of the floor in Ruby and Weiss’ room, picking through them and deciding which ones they would use.

That afternoon was filled with Yang, Ruby, and Weiss deciding on what color notebook she and Ruby should have, making fun of what ever the hell Nora decided belonged in a school-bag, and at one point Yang threatened to stick Boarbatusk stickers all over Myternaster. Weiss lectured her while Ruby mocked her from behind. It was perfect; nothing to think seriously about, no having to think about everything Qrow knew, and didn’t tell them, and dreading tomorrow.

Mistral, though, continued to be a kingdom unconcerned with what Yang expected to last. Like waves rippling in the wind that Mistral was famous for, stagnancy seemed to recede in a rhythm. From Yang’s chance rescuing of Weiss, to waiting for days, unchanging, in the house… It would be just like Mistral to present her with another break from the norm.

And so it did.

The door to the bedroom creaked as it opened, and the girls turned towards the unexpected noise.

Yang was frozen, paralyzed, eyes wide. Her voice was hardly a whisper.

“Blake?”

Before Blake could do anything more than flit her eyes nervously toward Yang, Ruby nearly tackled her in a hug.

“Blake!” Ruby cried. Weiss was tearing up as she stood and also walked over to embrace the cat Faunus. 

Yang watched Blake’s arms wrap around them and watched her smile. She didn’t realize she stood up too until she took a step forward. Her throat was tight, like she was choking, and tears threatened to fall, but she held them back. She had her eye’s glued to Blake, unable to stop staring at her.

It felt as though she had been deprived, starving maybe, and she’d just gotten a glimpse of what she’d been starving for. She didn’t want to look away in fear of… In fear of…

Yang was shaken out of her thoughts by Ruby’s voice.

“But that’s all that matters,” Ruby was smiling at Yang. “that we’re all here together, right?” Yang had missed the rest of the conversation, but she didn’t need to hear it. Weiss and Blake were looking at her too, and Ruby’s look turned expectant. Blake looked to the ground, radiating guilt. It took her a minute, but Yang eventually managed to smile and slowly nodded. She supposed, that right now, it was all that mattered.

Blake’s head snapped up as Yang put her arm around her and the other around Weiss. As Blake looked into Yang’s eyes, her smile was grateful, it was beautiful, and her hand loosely grasped the back of Yang’s shirt. Yang tightened her arms around Blake and Weiss, and the four girls stood there, closely embracing each other, for a long while.


	2. Sunflower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team RWBY attends Haven.

A gasp broke the silence in the moonlit bedroom. Yang sat up in her bed, cold sweat drenching her back. She absently rubbed the scarred end of her right arm, it tingled with phantom pain, exacerbated by her dream. Actually, ‘nightmare’ was more appropriate, she thought, bleakly. 

Yang turned her head to her left. Blake was asleep in the bed across from her, undisturbed by Yang’s outburst. Yang shifted in her bed, leaning against the wall, knees drawn up, she rested her left arm on the corresponding knee. She let her head thump gently back against the wall.

Yang wasn’t sure what was easier; getting used to life without Blake in it or having her back and feeling farther away from her than ever. The past two days had her preferring the former. Two days of barely speaking. Two days of looking at each other from across the room. Two days of polite jests in the company of friends. Two days of tension so thick you could cut it with a knife.

And Yang hadn’t done anything to fix it. Neither had Blake. They just went on like everything would be fine if they just ignored the Goliath in the room for now. And honestly? Yang couldn’t bring herself to do any better. Talking was hard, she knew that, and she also knew talking was necessary. But she was hurt beyond words.

She stared up at the ceiling. That’s what helped her sleep at night, anyway. Was it really fair for her to wait for Blake to start the process? No. It put a bad taste in her mouth when that thought wormed its way into her head. Her heart compelled her to make things right and held her fast with fear at the same time. It wasn’t fair.

Yang lifted her head to look over at Blake again. Maybe things for them would change tomorrow. Regardless of whether or not they did, things would change in general: Tomorrow was when Haven held its move-in day, and team RWBY would be attending fall classes. A small surge of excitement still hit her when she thought about it. 

She realized then that going back to sleep would probably be better instead of staying up the rest of the night staring at her sleeping partner. Partner. Could she even still call her that? Of course she fucking could, she mentally scolded herself. She slumped over onto her mattress, forgoing blankets, and closed her eyes again. Sleep took her quickly, mercifully, and held her until morning.

-x-

The next day was hectic, all of them would be leaving the rental-house for good so everything had to be collected and packed up. Ren busied himself in the living areas straightening up with Nora’s “help.” Jaune and Ruby made sure all the dishes were washed after breakfast, while Weiss carefully organized the washed plates in the cabinets. Blake was last to come down from upstairs, freshly showered and all packed.

Yang was waiting by the door with everyone else’s bags, absently browsing Haven’s student website on her scroll. Qrow had already walked up to the school, either to check on Lionheart or to make Yang believe he was going to do that and go into town instead. Both were equally as likely. Out of the corner of her eye Yang saw someone approach her.

She looked up from her scroll to see Blake.

“Are you the designated bag-watcher or something?” Blake smiled at her. Yang shrugged.

“Seems that way.” She didn’t mean for that to be as dismissive as it sounded. Blake’s smile faltered and her feline ears twitched just a bit as she set her bag down next to the rest.

“Do you mind watching mine, then? I’m gonna go help everyone straighten up.”

“Sure thing.” Shit, that was also not as warm as Yang meant it to be. Yang caught the frown that Blake tried to hide as she turned on her heel.

“Thanks…” Yang watched after her as Blake joined Ren and Nora who were fluffing the pillows on the couch. Yang chewed on her lip and closed her eyes briefly, cringing at herself.

Shortly, when everyone was satisfied with the state of the place, they all picked up their bags and suitcases, ready to make the journey to Haven. It was luckily only a few minutes’ walk, and soon they arrived at the front gates. Yang still found the architecture breathtaking despite already seeing it once or twice.

The quad was surprisingly crowded, full of new students with far too many things stuffed into their bags, along with returning students, already dressed in Haven’s signature black and white uniforms. It took a while for things to get moving, the press was also present, wanting to document the reopening. Lionheart made a welcome speech which was as awkwardly lackluster as one would imagine, having heard the man talk before.

However, it received about the same amount of applause as any other speech, the returning students seeming to be more enthusiastic than the new ones, who looked mostly confused. Yang guessed the older students were used to Lionheart’s strange mannerisms.

After the speech the students were filed and sorted into classes, different professors handling each group. Qrow had petitioned for Team RWBY and JNR to be put in their third year, as though they had attended the previous semester at Beacon. With the headmaster’s blessing, they were invited to do so. The groups, save for the first-years who would be enduring whatever initiation ritual Haven had (Yang hoped it would be better for them than being launched into a forest, though that had been kind of cool,) were led to the dormitories which took the form of two buildings flanking the back of the Grand Hall.

First and second years would be housed in the building on the right, while third and fourth years would be on the left. Team RWBY and JNR stuck close together, Ruby and Jaune seeming to have made a ‘pact’ for their teams to room across from each other. On the way into the dormitory they caught sight of Sun, and to no-one’s surprise, the rest of team SSSN. Unfortunately, Sun and his team were a year farther into Haven than them, so their dorm rooms were on the second floor.

“Sun is a year ahead of us!?” Jaune asked no one in particular.

“Yeah,” Blake raised an eyebrow “this whole time you didn’t know that?”

“No!” The rest of his team comforted him while the rest of team RWBY laughed at his expense.

-x-

Eventually the two teams picked out their dorms. Ruby was naturally the first one to open the cherry-wood door and step inside.

“Cool! It’s already got bunkbeds!” Yang chuckled at her sister, of course that would be the first thing she noticed. Ruby’s other three teammates stepped inside, letting the door close behind them.

“Finally, I won’t have to worry about getting crushed every time I go to sleep at night.” Weiss said as she plopped all of her stuff down on the lower bunk on the left. Ruby left her bag on the floor as she climbed up onto the top bunk.

“I’m telling you, Weiss those ropes were as secure as can be!” Ruby insisted. It was only then that Yang realized she would have to resume her place on the top bunk on the right, over Blake. She hadn’t even thought about that until now. The cat Faunus gently brushed past her in order to sit on the lower right bunk, silently starting to unpack her stuff.

Ruby suddenly broke from her banter with Weiss as she looked down at the center of the room.

“Hey what’s that tiny table thingy?” Yang had just noticed it as well. It was a low-sitting table covered by a thick, checked tablecloth that reached the floor, with a wood surface covering it. Four cushions were stacked on top of the table.

Yang and Ruby both looked at Weiss.

“Why do you assume I know what everything is?” Weiss crossed her arms.

“Well, do you know what it is?” Yang asked.

“No, actually… I don’t.” Her cheeks turned a light pink shade and Yang snickered.

“It’s a kotatsu table. You can heat up the underside and lay the blanket over you to keep warm.” Blake stated simply, not even looking up from the stack of books she was making on the floor in front of her bed. Ruby looked impressed; her eyebrows raised.

“How’d you know that, Blake?” Suddenly, Blake looked up as if she just became aware that she’d said anything. 

“I, er, read it in a book.” From the way her ears twitched, Yang could tell she was leaving something out.

“Huh, what book was it?” Ruby posed the question with total innocence, and Yang continued to be surprised at her sister’s inability to read Blake’s body language.

“It was just a book about the culture of Mistral, not very exciting, you probably wouldn’t have liked it, Ruby.”

“Bleh, history books!” Ruby started to climb down from the top bunk.

Yang could tell from the blush that Blake was trying to actively ignore, and the way she started placing books down faster, that “a book about the culture of Mistral” was definitely not the source of her knowledge on the subject of kotatsu tables.

In fact there was only one series of books that Blake would not name directly, and Yang knew what it was. She nearly laughed. They were also the only books that ever made Blake blush, and the same ones Yang promised never to mention. Had she and Blake actually possessed a modicum of stability in their relationship right now she might’ve teased her regardless of all that.

But Yang wasn’t sure if they’d reach that level of comfort with each other again. She made her way over to the ladder on the right bunk and climbed up to the top, opening her bag and dumping everything out onto her mattress.

The whole room was less spacious overall compared to Beacon’s, but it was cozy, the perfect level of snug. There were sliding doors on one side of the room belonging to a closet, and four large drawers under each bunk bed, providing space for clothes and such. On the other side of the room there was another sliding door that looked like it led to a bathroom which Yang assumed was just as snug. Opposite the bunkbeds were a pair of desks with a chair each.

The walls were half paneled wood, cherry like the door, and the same green wallpaper as out in the hall. The floor was made of a material unfamiliar to yang, though it reminded her of gym mats but made of straw instead of foam, and with what looked like cloth in the gaps. When she climbed back down the ladder to put her pajamas and new uniform in the drawer to the very left, she observed that the floor felt kind of soft too.

Blake was neatly placing her spare clothes in the drawer to the very right. Yang snuck a glance at her. Her hair was over one shoulder, out of the way while she fiddled with her clothes in the drawer. Yang had a clear look at her profile, the sun that was coming in from the window in the center of the back wall illuminated it with a soft white light. She was focused on trying to place in books in a flush layer underneath her clothes, fitting them together like a puzzle, her lips were pursed as she concentrated. 

Yang’s heart suddenly hurt. She wasn’t quite sure what it was that caused it to feel so heavy. Ruby and Weiss continued their playful banter as Ruby closely examined the kotatsu table. Was it that? The casual conversations she and Blake used to have, bouncing off each other so easily? She ached for something. So she looked away, hoping the feeling would go away too.

-x-

After team RWBY got completely unpacked and settled in, they collectively wandered into the cafeteria, which was across the quad. Haven, like Beacon had a self-serve style setup, though instead of one end of the cafeteria being occupied with a long buffet table, Haven’s was a collection of tables set up in a rectangle in the center. The tables surrounded a closed off central garden, much like the one their rental house had. It was more than pretty.

As the girls ate, Weiss seemed to have some sort of epiphany.

“We don’t have any extra clothes.” She suddenly looked horrified. Ruby chewed what was in her mouth (but only just) before adding,

“Oh yeah, wow, we’re gonna have to do laundry like every day.” Weiss shuddered.

“No, no, after we eat, we are going to get some extra clothing, or so help me.” She asserted. Blake snorted and Yang let out a laugh.

“Alright, can’t hurt to have extra clothes…” Yang started.

“But...?” Weiss invited this one, Yang thought.

“Your ‘rich girl’ is showing.” Both Blake and Ruby attempted to suppress a bit of snickering and Weiss reddened.

“Jerk.” 

Yang smiled and winked at her. Weiss rolled her eyes.

-x-

The closest place they could find clothes was actually the small school merchandise shop. They left the place with their wallets a bit lighter, and their arms full of Haven merchandise; blue, white, gray, and black. Not really any of their preferred color choices save for Weiss and Blake only half of the time.

When they got back into their dorm and opened the closet door to store their new digs, they noticed another feature of Haven’s rooms.

“Woah! Is that a tiny washing machine!?” Ruby’s eyes sparkled as she examined the unit hidden behind the closet door.

“And a tiny dryer too, Rubes.” Yang pointed out.

“Oh my _Gods._ ”

Yang couldn’t help but smile at her sister’s excitability. Yang also didn’t fail to see the way Weiss gazed fondly at her partner as she hung her clothes up. Gods that was adorable.

After they all got their clothes in order, they spent some time trying to figure out the kotatsu table and with Blake’s assistance, Ruby managed to turn it on. While that was going on, Yang was making a space for her shampoo on the shelf in the shower. She had managed to make the most of the bottle of her favorite kind (Citrus Explosion) so it still had about half left from last year.

The shower was about as cramped as she imagined it would be, and the shower head was nearly too low for her to enter it without hitting her head on it. That wouldn’t be too much of an issue though, she supposed. Poor Jaune, six foot-whatever he was. Her team generally shared one container of body-wash, family-size, and whatever the person who bought it felt like at the time. But each of them had their own shampoo. Ruby still used the same brand she had as a kid because it was the only strawberry shampoo she could ever find in Vale. Yang wasn’t actually sure if Weiss’ actually had a specific scent, just that it was an expensive brand and she never smelled bad, like ever.

Blake’s she knew by heart: Tea-infused jasmine. It smelled fucking amazing. Flowery, but not overwhelming, clean. Yang closed her eyes for a moment, thinking about it. Her mind wandered, despite her best efforts, and brought her to those memories in which she noticed how good it smelled.

When she hugged her at the end of that chat that they had, ages ago, it seemed, where Yang told Blake about her mom. At the dance, when she spun her into her arms. That time she rested her head on Yang’s shoulder while they read together in Beacon’s library. Laying in the sun one afternoon on Beacon’s yard, talking about nothing in particular, their heads were next to each other, Blake laying the direction opposite of hers. When they embraced, just a few days ago, in that group hug.

Yang’s eyes opened, but she couldn’t smile. She sniffed, and trying to forget the scent of jasmine, she walked out of the bathroom.

-x-

Classes started the next day, they were structured similarly to Beacon’s, same subjects and general curriculum. The classrooms themselves were a bit different, instead of tiered benches and tables, the lecture halls had a raised stage in the front where the professor spoke, while the floor was flat with tables and chairs facing it. The training rooms were the most different, for one thing they were called “Dojos” and they had the same floors as the dorm rooms.

Haven's midterm exams proved to be just as hard as Beacon’s if not harder. Haven was filled with some smart kids, themselves included, Yang reckoned. But she’d also observed that the school seemed to be running slightly over-capacity. They’d must’ve seen a heavy influx of students from Vale, just like her own team. And then there were the field trips…

Professor Plum Murasaki was nice enough, but under a friendly face and demure first impression, she was a “take no shit” kind of woman. Something Yang could admire, admittedly. But this did mean that when one fucked up, she would show no mercy when it came to correction. 

“No.” Professor Murasaki said gently. “That is not the herb I asked for Ms. Xiao Long.” She smiled in a deceptively sympathetic manner. “If you bring me the wrong one a third time, the paper you are going to write me on the uses of nerve-calming herbs while hunting Grimm will be due tomorrow, not next week.” Yang attempted to keep her head as she nodded, smiling back.

“Right, yeah, no problem, Prof.” Yang assured through gritted teeth. “I’ll get it right next time.” She flung the root she was holding over her shoulder and backed away as another student came up to the professor with their herbs.

Yang, and everyone else (including Professor Murasaki), wore thigh-high rubber boots and thick, elbow-high gloves over their uniforms in order to be able to work in the mud flats of Lake Matsu. Apparently, there was an herb that grew here called “Kofuan Root” that could be ground up and ingested to help Huntsmen stay calm in the field, blah, blah, Yang didn’t actually care much about this stuff. She trudged back over to her team.

“Yeah, that one wasn’t it.”

“Awwww!” Ruby groaned, dropping her collection of incorrect herbs back into the knee-high mud. All of their sleeves were rolled up to the elbows, but the edges were still mud-soaked. Weiss was the one who was enjoying herself the least, mumbling about how she doubted the mud would actually come out of their clothes at this point. Blake scrunched her face up every time she tried to step out of the spot she’d chosen to sift through, her boots making a loud SCHLORP noise from the suction.

Behind them laid a forest of trees that had roots high above the mud. Mangroves, they were called. Yang was beginning to think that would be a better place to search than here. Several teams of students had already gone in in search of the herb, which they had to identify from their notes in class. Too bad every root looked “brown and woody” like Yang had wrote on hers. They also had red-leafed surface branches ‘sometimes but not always’ which was great and helpful…

“Hey, do you guys wanna check the forest?” Yang suggested.

“Professor Murasaki explicitly told us that there would be less of a chance of finding them in there because they usually grow where the mud is deeper.” Weiss pointed out.

“Okay, yeah but consider the following:”

“What.”

“This fucking sucks.” Blake’s boots made another schlorp sound.

“Fine, if you want to go into the forest so much, then go, Ruby, Blake and I will stay here.”

Ruby shrugged and started digging into the mud again. Blake looked up at Weiss.

“Actually, I’m with Yang on this one.” Blake admitted.

“Okay, both of you go then.”

“Fine.” Yang agreed. “Come on, Blake.” Yang turned around and started off, dragging her feet along through the mud. Actually, this wasn’t bad resistance training… Blake followed her closely, trying to step in the footprints Yang left in order to move through the mud easier. Eventually they reached a point where the mud only reached their mid-shins at the highest. She and Blake were both out of breath, leaning against the tree roots to rest for a moment.

Yang caught sight of shoulder-length orange hair and called out.

“Hey, Nora!”

Nora swiveled around and waved enthusiastically.

“Hey Yang, hey Blake! Isn’t this great!?”

“No, it sucks!”

“Hah, says you!” Nora twirled around for emphasis, sliding ungracefully in the mud.

“Says me. Hey, you found any Kofuan yet?” 

“Nope!” Her shoulders sagged slightly. “Still looking!”

“Okay, I’ll let you get back to it!”

“Sure, good luck you guys!” She slid away, rather goofily, and Yang and Blake were by themselves again. Blake straightened up and cracked her neck, taking a step forward.

“Leave it to Nora to find the fun in being covered in mud…” Blake commented, smiling at Yang.

“Mmhm.” Yang looked at her surroundings, trying to determine what direction would be best to head first. She could practically feel the frown on Blake’s face at the dismissal of Yang’s response. “Hey, I think I see a pond over there, wanna check around that?”

“Sounds good to me.” Blake answered. The two of them headed off in the direction Yang chose, scanning the ground as they did so.

-x-

A good forty minutes later and they were still empty-handed. They had wandered pretty deep into the forest, the mangroves surrounded them completely, and they couldn’t hear any of the other students tromping through the mud nearby.

“This is what hell is like.” Yang announced, as she scooped mud up from the ground.

“I think you’re right.” Blake sighed as she kneeled a few feet away, digging up some mushrooms and frustratedly tossing them aside. Yang managed a chuckle as she looked over at Blake, and the relief in the Faunus’ smile was palpable. “At least we’re suffering together, right?” Her smile disappeared at her own words, and she dropped her gaze, staring down into the mud.

Yang didn’t respond. She too had dropped her gaze, and in her distorted reflection on the mud’s surface, her expression was sour. They weren’t suffering together though, were they, Yang thought. Yang was suffering alone, and Blake was suffering alone. Yang stood up.

“Let’s check somewhere else.”

“Okay…” Before they could move, Blake’s ears twitched and then flattened. “Yang,” Her voice was tight, “we are going to have company in a second.”

“What is it?” Yang asked, activating her weapons.

“Sobekroc.” Blake unsheathed Gambol Shroud. As if on cue, Yang heard a deep hiss, ending in a throaty growl. She and Blake had never actually seen a Sobekroc, never having been in Mistral’s wilds before. But it came up in nearly every Grimm studies class, as it was the professor’s favorite, much like Boarbatusks were Professor Port’s. 

“You flank, I’ll distract it.”

“Got it.” Blake, as surreptitiously as she could, slunk off into the trees. Yang turned toward the hissing noise, raising her fists in a defensive stance. Through the roots of a nearby mangrove tree, she could see it, half-sunken into the mud, its ridged skull of a head and open mouth, which leaked black mist. It was nearly 20 feet long from what Yang could see. It would be a slow-moving Grim for the most part, but its attacks were unexpectedly fast, and if you got caught in its mouth while it rolled, you were basically dead.

“Hey, big guy, lookin’ for a snack?” Yang posed the question while brandishing Ember Celica, banging her knuckles together. It growled in response, which echoed strangely in its cavern-like mouth. “Bet I’m too fast for you.” The Sobekroc closed its mouth slowly and crawled forward in the mud. “That’s it, you piece of shit, come get a taste.”

It picked up speed as it closed in on Yang, swinging its head back and forth, flinging mud everywhere. Yang fired at its face, shotgun blasts ringing through the air. It seemed unaffected, its skull proving to be too thick. Yang backed up as she kept firing.

“Now would be great, Blake!” Almost immediately, Yang saw her jump down from a mangrove onto the creature’s back. “Nice!” Blake sliced at its back with Gambol Shroud, but Yang didn’t need to be told it couldn’t penetrate its hide, she could tell by the abundance of clanging. 

“Get between the plates of its armor!” Yang shouted as she fired away.

“I’m trying!” Blake brought Gambol Shroud and its sheath down, with what Yang could see was all her strength, in between its bone shoulder plates. The strike bounced off and Blake gritted her teeth. Yang grimaced. The Grimm noticed that something was on its back, after that, and it telegraphed its next move instinctually.

“Get off it, its gonna roll!”

Blake ran along its back and jumped, using her weapon to secure herself to a nearby tree. Then the thing rolled, its massive body knocking over trees and crunching roots underneath it. Yang raised her hands to cover her face as mud sloshed up into the air. Once the Sobekroc recovered it went after Yang again, charging her. Yang dashed to the side, sliding underneath a mangrove to her left. Once it realized it had missed her, the Grimm slowly turned and begun to snap at the mangrove she was under.

“Shit!” She ran out from under it and nearly ran into Blake who stopped her with outstretched hands. Yang looked over her shoulder at her. “Any ideas?”

“I saw its underside just now, and it’s unarmored, we should try to get it to roll over so one of us can get a shot in.” Blake offered.

“I was thinking the same thing. You wanna do bait n’ switch?” It was a technique Yang named, involving Blake using one of her clones as bait and then Yang would come in, guns blazing the second the clone was destroyed.

“I think that would work, yeah.”

“’Kay, let’s go.” Yang ran and hid a few feet away, While Blake ran over to a clearing, standing in full view of the Sobekroc. 

“Over here!” Blake shouted, getting the attention of the Grimm, who had just torn the mangrove Yang had been under into shreds of bark. It growled low and swiveled its head toward her. Yang saw Blake load an earth Dust cartridge into Gambol Shroud and ready her semblance.

The Sobekroc charged her, and Blake activated her semblance. Disappearing, Blake’s clone took the full force of the Grimm’s bite and it rolled, attempting to incapacitate its prey, which crumbled into rock in its mouth, Yang jumped out of cover but just as she was about to unload Ember Celica into the beast, she caught sight of Blake, standing unmoving in the mud. Something was wrong. Her eyes were wide, and Gambol shroud was loose in her hand. Her other hand ghosted over her left hip, and she was trembling. The Sobekroc rolled again, maybe in frustration, hissing, and it was going to hit Blake.

Using Ember Celica to propel herself, Yang slammed into her, tackling her out of the path of the Grimm. She landed on top of Blake, who seemed to snap out of her stupor.

“Yang, what—what’s going on?” She sounded panicked. Before Yang could respond she heard the Sobekroc hiss behind them and looked over her shoulder to see it rear up onto its hind legs and prepare to slam down. With adrenalin high, and instincts honed from practice, Yang saw her opening and took it, raising her right arm and firing it into the beast’s belly, showering the both of them in the Grimm’s ichor. It let out a gurgling roar, and snapped its jaws at Yang, regardless. It caught her arm between its deadly teeth, and Yang knew what was coming next.

In a moment of pure instinct she reached up and released the connecting socket on her metal prosthetic. Yang was almost wrenched to the side as the Sobekroc rolled again, but her arm coming free gave her the chance to use the momentum to stand up off of Blake, leaving her in the mud. She strode up to the Grimm and unloaded the left half of Ember Celica into its stomach, a throaty growl rising to a yell as Yang nearly burrowed into its hide with shotgun blasts. Once it was over, the Sobekroc was dead, and from its dissipating corpse Yang retrieved her arm, which was now covered in mud. She would definitely have to clean that off before putting it back on. The gloves that had covered it and Ember Celica were nothing but singed scraps of rubber.

Blake was sitting up in the mud, eyes wide, looking terrified, awestruck, or something in between. Either way, she still seemed shaken, and Yang wondered what the hell had happened. Yang walked over to her and helped her up. Blake put Gambol Shroud away on her back, but she still looked dazed enough for Yang to remain concerned. 

“Blake, are you okay?”

She finally looked up into Yang’s eyes, though Yang already knew the answer.

“I’m… no, Yang, I'm not.” She almost looked scared at the admission, like she expected Yang to be disappointed. Yang nodded and felt like crying in relief. Relief over what exactly, she didn’t know, but the feeling was there, and strong.

“Alright,” Yang took a moment to adjust herself so Blake could lean on her if she wanted. “Let’s get back to the group, I think this’ll be a great excuse for us to skip out on this shitty mud.” Blake accepted the gesture, putting her arm around Yang’s waist as Yang supported her shoulders with her left arm, her prosthetic tucked under her right.

“Yeah…” Blake agreed distantly.

-x-

Before they even made it out of the mangroves, they nearly collided with Ruby and Weiss.

“What the hell happened!?” Weiss demanded, looking outraged but in a panicked way. She didn’t even let them answer before continuing. “Everyone came running out of the forest, but Ruby and I recognized your weapon going off, and we immediately went looking for you!”

“Yeah, sis, are you guys alright!?” Ruby looked up at the two of them with a look of such genuine concern that Yang felt guilty.

“Ruby, it’s fine, we’re okay for the most part.”

“For the most part!?” Weiss cut in. Yang sighed.

“We ran into a Grimm, a Sobekroc. We made it out okay, but Blake exhausted her Aura.” By the way Blake’s shoulders seemed to relax, Yang knew she appreciated the lie on her behalf.

Weiss opened her mouth to say something, eyes wide, but before she could speak, Professor Murasaki emerged from the mangroves behind Ruby and Weiss.

“A Sobekroc!” She looked concerned as well. “You two are lucky to be alive. They usually don’t come out during the day.” She strode over to them and put a gloved hand on Yang’s shoulder. “Unfortunately, Grimm interrupting Haven’s field excursions is about as common as it was at Beacon, I imagine. You two look like you’ve had enough action for today though… I think you should return to the Academy. I’m sure your teammates will be able to gather enough Kofuan Root for all of you.”

Weiss smacked her forehead with both hands frustratedly, and Ruby patted her back, giving Yang and Blake a thumbs up and a sympathetic smile. The professor continued.

“I’ll escort you to the road and get you transport back to the city. I trust you will be fine from there?” Both Blake and Yang nodded. “Alright, girls, follow me.” She started walking and team RWBY followed.

-x-

Once the professor secured them a ride back to the city, they said goodbye to Ruby and Weiss, Yang threatening to hug Weiss with the mud and Grimm ichor all over her, and Ruby laughed so hard at Weiss freaking out that she snorted. 

Once they reached the city, which was only a few minutes away, Yang and Blake made their way up to the school. They were met with curious looks as they crossed the quad and entered the dorms. They had shed their rubber boots and gloves before getting on the transport, so their legs were mostly clean, but everything else, not so much. Yang tried her best not to get mud all over the hall as they made their way into the dorm.

When they got inside, they took a moment to breathe. Shortly, Yang became acutely aware of every place on her body that was caked with the now-dried mud, and the gross-smelling Grimm ichor. That was going to be a bitch to get out of her hair… There was hardly a spot above her waist that wasn’t covered. She started by trying to salvage whatever was clean, removing her shoes and stockings and throwing them up onto her bunk. Blake seemed to have the same idea.

“We’re never going to get the rest of our clothes off without making a mess everywhere.” Blake muttered.

“Yeah, Weiss’ll kill us if we get dirt stuck in the wash too.” Yang scratched the side of her face while she thought. Some dirt came off. Gross. She could at least start washing her arm off, she guessed. It would take some time to get the dirt out of the finer mechanisms, but she could start by rinsing it. She pushed the bathroom door open carefully, trying to get as few dirty fingerprints on it as she could. She placed the prosthetic in the sink and ran the water over it. Idly, she scrubbed it, and didn’t notice Blake had come in before she heard the shower start up.

“What… are you doing?” Yang eyed Blake’s reflection in the mirror as she got into the stream of water fully clothed. She turned her head toward Yang, her face reddening slightly.

“Being efficient.” She said, a hint of defensiveness in her voice. Yang couldn’t stop herself from laughing, looking down as she finished rinsing off her arm. She turned the tap off and left it in the sink to dry off a bit before she brought it back into the other room. Yang hesitated at the door to the rest of the dorm. She fought with herself mentally for a good few moments before deciding to turn back around.

Blake was startled as she looked up at Yang who had positioned herself at the entrance to the shower.

“Move over, I am not standing here covered in dirt while you get yourself all squeaky-clean.” Blake's eyes widened as she moved to the side, luckily toward the shower head so Yang didn’t have to switch places with her as she stepped in. The warming water felt amazing compared to the cold mud they had been fighting in not long ago. Yang sighed at the feeling, wetting her hands and wiping the grime from her face.

She opened her eyes to find Blake staring. She averted her eyes like she’d gotten caught, but Yang wasn’t bothered. She had kind of just given Blake whiplash. Blake ran her fingers through her hair and Yang watched the water pour down over her Haven uniform, the jacket heavily hanging on her shoulders. Yang stepped closer to the stream of water, letting it wet her entire front, and watching as the dirt and grime swirled at her feet. When she looked back up, Blake was in the process of removing her jacket, letting it flop to the floor of the shower. Following Blake’s example, Yang lets hers drop off her shoulders as well.

“Ya know, this wasn’t all that bad of an idea, Blake.”

“I know.” Yang saw a smile touch her lips. Yang felt herself smile too.

While the water continued to heat up, Yang and Blake stood in silence, simply scrubbing the dirt off themselves. But as the steam rose up from the floor, caught in the tight bathroom, Yang found her eyes on Blake, and her hands stilled. She held Blake’s gaze, golden, blurred by the water. Yang licked her lips before she spoke, suddenly nervous. Afraid to ruin the stability they’d temporarily found.

“What happened back there? You just… froze.” She was afraid she’d put Blake’s walls up again with that question as Blake held her hands close to her chest and broke eye-contact, but she answered anyway.

“I don't know... I didn't think about it much until now, but I haven’t—” Her voice cracked, and she took a second to compose herself. “I haven’t focused on setting up a static clone for that long since…” Blake didn’t need to finish for Yang to understand what she meant.

“Fuck…”

“And I messed up, Yang. I put you in danger, even after everything that's happened!” She grimaced and looked up at Yang, her expression was saturated with so much pity. Yang looked away, eyebrows furrowed, her hand shaking. She didn’t feel like being mad anymore. She didn’t want to put everything on Blake, she didn't deserve it, and while Blake was looking at her like that... She wanted Blake to understand, but it was clear to her that Blake wasn’t ready yet. And she couldn’t force her to understand either. So she gave her all she could.

“I still get flashes from that night. I have nightmares about it. I see him when he’s not there...” Yang felt Blake grab her hand.

“Yang… I—” Blake choked back a sob. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.” Yang pulled her in close, as close as she could. She didn't have to force a solution when she wasn't ready to either.

“Me too.” Blake quietly sobbed into her soaked shirt. And Yang felt solid for once, grounded. She pressed her lips to the top of Blake’s head. It didn’t feel like the weight was off her shoulders, but it wasn’t the world that was on them anymore. It was manageable, and she could hold it up. She would hold it up.


	3. Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Bees figure out that, whoops, they love each other!

Blake’s hair was still wet as she laid in her bunk, staring up at the metal bars that supported the mattress suspended over her. Usually, Blake would wait until her hair was completely dry before even lying down, but at the moment she didn’t care. Her entire body ached, whether it was from the encounter with the Sobekroc Grimm, or from sheer emotional strain, she couldn’t tell. Her eyelids felt heavy and her eyes burned from all the tears she had shed in the past hour.

Only an hour ago, she’d been enveloped in Yang’s strong embrace, falling apart into her soaked shirt. She was still reeling from it: She had felt so incredibly vulnerable, and instead of that coming back to bite her like it usually did, it seemed to make Yang open herself up. For once, showing vulnerability had led to a good thing... Sort of.

Yang was still suffering because of her. It was as if the shadows that haunted Blake had been imprinted onto Yang’s mind like they were on her own. Yang had been, and still was, the most important person in Blake’s life and realizing she had hurt her like that seized her heart like a vice. She had hoped Yang would just be angry at her, so angry that she would ignore her. What she did was cruel, selfish, yet Yang didn't hate her for it... How? Blake felt like she would just keep ruining everything... Every friendship, every relationship... She couldn't stop Adam, she couldn't save Yang... And having Yang hate her would have been easier than facing the reality that she still cared about her, somehow, despite all of it.

Then there was the hardest part. The part that terrified her even more than it used to: Blake was in love with her.

Love had never treated Blake well. More often than not it caused more harm than good and threatened to become too much. It had been trap that Blake couldn’t escape, a tool to harm. She had learned to fear the reality of it, convinced herself over the years that she didn't deserve it. But here she was; trying not to think back to all the times Yang had made her feel safe and secure with that smile like sunshine.

That tightness in her chest, the ever-present guilt and the fear that she would end up hurting Yang again, was why Blake was pretty sure she wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep tonight. Then there was the burning question, of course, how was she ever going to fix this? How was she going to repair what she had broken between her and Yang. _How do you heal a wound like this?_ Blake still didn’t know. Everything she had tried since she returned to team RWBY hadn’t done much at all.

She was desperate to somehow communicate to Yang how sorry she was, how much she regretted what she'd done. Blake knew that she would have to be careful and take it slow. But that was the end of what she knew about how to make things right again.

-x-

Three days later, Haven’s midterm exams were over, papers were handed in, and only three days after _that_ things were already gearing up in order to prepare students for finals.

Aura training was no exception. Team RWBY’s class was combined with another class for the day to practice aura control and management in team versus team combat. Team RWBY had been matched up with some pretty tough Haven Academy-native teams, but they had outlasted nearly all of them. A surprise had been seeing (and battling against) team ABRN again; this time the Haven team won. Their mastery of Aura was amazing, especially Arslan’s, and after the match the two teams met off to one side of the Dojo.

Nadir actually hugged all of team RWBY, Reese following his example only seconds after. Bolin joined the, now quite messy, attempt at a group hug, and Arslan finally joined as well, managing to lift the entire group a foot off the ground. After a welcome amount of laughter, team RWBY and ABRN did some catching up. After the disaster at Beacon, ABRN had returned to Mistral only to find that Haven was being put in lockdown, a panicked Lionheart giving an announcement over the city’s news broadcast.

Blake observed that ABRN and her own team talked like they were close friends. It was almost like the two teams shared an imperceptible bond from being in the battle of Beacon together. Those shared experiences had affected all of them in a way Blake couldn’t quite place. It brought them together somehow.

It was like the bonds team RWBY had. It was what made them inseparable, and what ensured that, if they were ever apart, they would always find each other again. Blake felt a strange kind of comfort in knowing they were all still connected like that, even her and Yang.

-x-

The next few days came and went without much incident, classes were mostly lecture, and they only had papers due for Grimm Studies and Field Training. Still, free time was scarce, and Blake still hadn’t had a chance to talk privately with Yang again. The two of them seemed comfortable with their current situation though, back to sharing smiles when they did talk, and joking with each other. Blake no longer felt she had to tip-toe around Yang in order to preserve their friendship, and she could tell Yang was feeling more comfortable around her too.

Still, something felt off. Blake couldn’t place exactly what it was, either. It was frustrating: Yang had shown the capability to read _her_ like a book in the past, and though Blake could get a read on Yang most of the time, sometimes she wasn’t sure how much she was imagining and how much Yang was actually communicating. Blake noticed that Yang kept looking at her when she thought she didn't notice. When Blake turned her attention toward her, she would turn her head quickly and pretend to be doing something else. Blake kept expecting her to say something, but she would just flash a smile and that was it.

After class was over one evening, though, Yang and Blake decided to work together on a Field Training paper, sitting at one of the desks in their dorm. Yang commented about how Blake wrote, saying that it made sense that she wrote so well since she always was ‘such a bookworm.’ Blake had rolled her eyes at that, smiling at her. Yang had smirked back at her, clearly enjoying teasing her like she used to. It had made Blake’s heart flutter; she was so happy Yang felt like she could do that again.

Once they finished their respective papers, they headed off to bed, but Yang was strangely quiet after putting on her pajamas. Blake hadn’t said anything, choosing to just let her be, not wanting to make her focus on whatever was bothering her. Blake had fallen asleep shortly, but she was awoken in the night by the bed above her shifting.

Blake blinked a few times, and turned onto her right side, facing out toward the center of the room. That was when she saw Yang climbing down from her bunk. She got down from the ladder and sleepily made her way past Blake’s bunk in the direction of the bathroom. Blake closed her eyes again, satisfied that nothing was wrong, and tried to go back to sleep.

A few moments later she was roused again by the bedframe creaking, signifying Yang climbing back into bed. She kept her eyes closed, but a quiet voice made her open them again.

“Blake?” Yang was at her bedside, left hand resting on the frame of the top bunk. She was looking down at her with tired eyes, Blake could see the dark circles underneath them.

“Mmh, Yang? What’s wrong.” Blake’s voice was rough with grogginess. She rubbed her eyes.

“Can’t sleep…” Yang’s crop top shifted off her shoulder as she put her hand down at her side. She stood silently for a moment, her hand slowly moving up to hold her right bicep in an unusual display of the nervousness that Blake quirked an eyebrow at. “Care if I sit?”

Blake nodded her head, moving back in bed to give Yang some room. Yang sighed and sat down on the edge of Blake’s bunk. She ran her hand through her hair, messy from tossing and turning. For a few minutes she just sat there while looking out the window to their right. Blake watched the back of her head, yawning quietly a few times. Then Yang spoke, so softly that had Blake not possessed feline ears she might not have even heard her.

“I missed you so _fucking_ much…” Yang carefully shifted her position, so she was facing Blake, sitting cross-legged. She looked so tired, but there was a fragile shimmering that the moonlight caught in her eyes. Blake felt herself tear-up, too tired herself to properly keep her emotions in check. Yang held her gaze as her own tears fell, and there was a silent question there. Instinctively, Blake reached out to her with both arms loosely extended. Blake almost missed the flash of relief that passed through Yang’s eyes as she quickly dove down into her arms, burying her face in the sheets near her shoulder.

“I missed you too.” Blake wrapped her arms around her and shut her eyes tightly, lowering her head so that her forehead rested against her neck. The sudden rush of affection for Yang that hit Blake was nearly enough to knock her back. The emotion struck her with a slew of memories, some fond, and others that filled her with dread. She hadn’t felt like this since she was at Beacon. And once before that, when she was too young to know how that feeling could grow sour, and twist, like a knife in her heart.

She swallowed but didn’t move. Despite the fear of repeating the greatest mistake of her life, she still _wanted_ to hold Yang. _She still_ wanted to fall in love with her. And that still terrified her.

But as soon as Yang scooted closer, grabbing Blake’s shirt as leverage, Blake was pulled out of her own thoughts. She was tired, and she wanted to sleep, and Yang was so warm. Blake sighed softly and carefully adjusted her position so that she was more comfortable. She supposed falling asleep now would be okay; Yang didn’t seem to be making any moves to say anything else, and she’d looked as if she was going to fall asleep standing up anyway. Listening to Yang’s breathing eventually become soft snoring was soothing enough, and soon, Blake drifted off to sleep.

-x-

Blake woke up with her legs tangled in the blankets, and with her arms still wrapped around Yang. One thing that struck her was that she woke up naturally, and not to an alarm. That was never a good sign, since she was usually the last one to get out of bed when team RWBY’s alarm did ring in the morning. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes, not rubbing them in order to keep from moving her arms and disturbing Yang who was, oh, she was very close to her face.

Her mouth was slightly agape, and her eyes were closed serenely. She didn’t even look like herself when she was asleep; her face took on an almost delicate look this way. It was actually really pretty. Not that Blake didn’t find Yang pretty normally, she did, and frequently. Blake closed her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows, feeling herself start to blush. It did not help that she and Yang were nearly nose-to-nose.

Blake opened her eyes again and tried not to be so distracted. She looked over Yang’s shoulder to the other bunkbed. It was empty. Odd. She gently removed her arms from around Yang before sitting up to examine more of the room.

There was a piece of paper on Blake and Yang’s nightstand tucked under Yang’s mechanical arm. Hmm… She would have to wake Yang up after all. She reached down and squeezed Yang’s shoulder.

“Yang.”

At Blake’s voice, Yang blinked awake, reaching her hand up to rub her eyes. She looked confused at first as she opened her eyes fully, but then seemed to remember the previous night. Her eye’s found Blake’s.

“Uh… Hey.” Her cheeks grew pink. “Morning?”

“Morning.” Blake said, trying her best not to smile at how uncharacteristically bashful she seemed. “Ruby and Weiss are gone by the way.”

“Oh, shit, what time is it?” Yang shot up into a sitting position, reaching over to the nightstand where her scroll was charging and checking the screen. “It’s only eight. We don’t have classes ‘til ten today.” She heaved a sigh of relief and put it back down. She then noticed the piece of paper. She snatched it off the nightstand and looked back over at Blake with a raised eyebrow. Blake simply shrugged.

“It was there when I woke up.”

Yang opened up the paper and read what was written on it aloud.

“Morning, Sis. You guys slept through the alarm but me and Weiss didn’t want to wake you up because you looked so comfy. We went to get breakfast; we’ll bring you something back… Huh. Man, it’s a good thing I grew up with her ‘cause if I didn’t,” she peered closer at what was written on the note. “I don’t think I could’ve made out any of this.”

Yang held the note up for Blake to see. Ruby’s handwriting had never been the best, but she must’ve just rolled out of bed when she wrote it; the only characters Blake could decipher were the circles that she dotted her “i’s” with. Blake chuckled along with Yang as she placed the note back down on the nightstand. She sat back up and yawned, stretching her hand up over her head and arching her back. Blake found herself eyeing Yang’s bare abs as she did so, unable to stop her cheeks from reddening further.

This was all far too intimate, waking up in each other’s arms, like lovers. Blake felt guilty at the thought of comforting Yang being anything more than platonic, but she couldn’t stop herself. Part of her wanted to pull Yang back into an embrace, keep her here all day. The thought was so selfish. She still had no idea how Yang felt, it was still to early to gage how she would react to Blake initiating that kind of touch, that kind of interaction.

“Did you end up sleeping alright?” Blake asked, her gaze quickly flitting up to Yang’s face. Yang stopped mid-stretch to look at her.

“Yeah… Thanks by the way.” She resumed her stretch, seeming nonchalant. “Sorry if I was a pain in the ass, I just…” She lowered her arms and looked down at her lap. “I wasn’t feeling great.”

“You weren’t a pain, Yang.” Blake put a hand on her knee to get her attention, trying to give Yang the best reassuring smile she could muster. As Yang’s eyes rose to meet hers, she was happy to see that they held a bit of their usual spark, and Yang smiled back at her. It took a good few seconds for Blake to look away, her left ear twitching involuntarily as she let out another yawn. Had Blake’s heart not begun to pound hard in her chest, she would’ve liked to hold Yang’s gaze for just a bit longer.

Gods, was it really this bad? She was sure, from how hot her face was, that she was still blushing. Just from looking at her. Yang’s voice shook her out of her own head.

“So… um,” Yang’s voice sounded curiously anxious. Blake looked back in her direction. “You wanna shower first, or should I?” She was absently scratching at her right shoulder but seemed to be focusing on it intently. Did she look flushed? Great, now she was deluding herself into thinking Yang was as flustered as she was.

“Go ahead.” Blake stretched, twisting around to crack her back. She sighed loudly at the satisfying feeling. Her feline ears perked as she thought she heard Yang make a noise, but she was already closing the bathroom door when Blake looked up. Blake shrugged internally and lazily continued to stretch.

-x-

A few minutes later, and Blake had all the time she needed to slip into an exceedingly anxious mind-state, because she realized that the note did, in fact, mean both Ruby and Weiss had seen Yang and Blake asleep together. Blake wasn’t so much worried about Ruby seeing them, mostly because she knew her team leader didn’t care about gratuitous physical contact, especially from the amount of times she’d hugged and/or cuddled Blake, Weiss, and her sister. But she knew Weiss loved to make her own assumptions about things and then voice them until they were either agreed upon or disproven. And Blake was not exactly keen on getting side-eyed by the young Schnee at every opportunity.

At least that’s what Blake assumed would happen. She was also well aware that Weiss was convinced she and Yang needed to “make up” as soon as possible. Weiss had always had a strangely acute awareness of her and Yang’s relationship ever since their second year at Beacon. Blake wasn’t exactly sure why she cared so much, it was either that she really cared about how well her team synergized, or something else entirely. The girl’s motivations had always been kind of a mystery to Blake.

But, eventually, Ruby and Weiss returned with two take-away boxes from the Cafeteria and Blake received no side-eyes from Weiss, or oblivious comments from Ruby. They had gotten her and Yang some croissants and fruit along with some grilled fish and rice, which was part of a traditional Mistrali breakfast. Blake was definitely a fan of that particular tradition.

She was very close to skipping the croissant and nabbing Yang’s slice of fish, but she managed to hold herself back. Weiss was in the middle of complaining about how long the line was at the buffet, when Yang came back out of the bathroom in her school uniform, steam following close behind. She took a deep breath before smiling suddenly.

“Is that breakfast? Hell yeah!” She joined Blake at the kotatsu table and dug into her own breakfast, thanking her teammates for saving her some. Though Blake glanced at her every now and then, she refused to look her way, almost to the point of ignoring her. Evidently, Blake mused, deciphering Yang’s feelings toward her was not going to get any easier.

After they ate, Blake got ready, and team RWBY attended their morning classes. The rest of the morning and afternoon went on as normally as it usually did; they turned in their Field Training papers and ended up having lunch with Sun and the rest of team SSSN.

As the day progressed, Blake was unable to stop thinking about her partner. She wasn’t sure what to do about any of this: She knew the kind of harm infatuation could do, especially if it was just that, and not something deeper. Blake was sure she felt something deep for Yang, but in the back of her head she was always afraid that she was somehow tricking herself. Allowing herself to fall into a familiar pattern that would always end in regret and pain.

-x-

Yang was so fucked. She was completely and totally fucked.

She was currently lifting weights in one of the dojos. She’d lost count on her reps some time ago because she couldn’t stop thinking about Blake. Yang was hopelessly in love with her, regardless of the sour feelings that she still had, and the list of problems they had to sort out between each other.

She thought she'd made a mistake, crushing on her at Beacon, when she was convinced she could fix Blake's problems and change her outlook on life with her love alone. When she realized she would do _anything_ for her. When she realized that it was love. She figured out now, within the last few days in fact, that apparently she was wrong; falling for her wasn't a mistake. And she was now about ninety-nine percent sure she was still in love with Blake Belladonna.

Blake had broken whatever trust Yang had for her when she left, and it still wasn't all back, but when Yang thought about it, really thought about it, her feelings hadn't changed. 

The epiphany was blindsiding her left and right, every time she could get a chance to look at her, she’d feel it, and it was addicting. All the times Blake caught her staring… she would barely recover, and it made her heart beat so fast she’d felt like she was having a panic attack.

Her right bicep began to hurt so she switched hands, the metal weight clinking against her metal hand as it left its grip. She continued her reps, trying to actually count this time.

Yang wasn’t sure whether or not she was deluding herself with the idea that Blake liked her back, she could name signs that pointed to it, but… There was another thing holding Yang back.

She wasn’t sure either of them was ready for something like this. Yang figured it this way: She just reconciled with the idea that she could allow herself to trust Blake again, so of course a whole bunch of feelings were going to bounce around in her head like mad. Feeling like she was falling in love all over again was a surprise but was it really what she wanted? Was it really good for her? For both of them? That’s what got to Yang the most. The fear that they would end up in flames if they pushed too far.

All of this was distracting and kind of overwhelming. She needed to sort all this out, but she was never good with mulling everything over in her head. She just jumped from thought to thought, never actually coming to a conclusion because of self-doubt, low self-esteem, or some other stupid thing. Usually she talked things out with Ruby when she needed help, but it felt weird to go to her sister about this specifically.

She lost count of her reps again, dammit. She decided to put the weight back on its rack and stretch for a moment. Then a thought occurred to her. She rolled her shoulders and then grabbed her scroll from her pocket. She texted Weiss.

_Hey princess need some1 2 spot me_

_Come down 2 green dojo_

_Pretty plz_

Weiss responded a few seconds later: 

_If you call me princess one more time, I will beat you with your own dumbbells._

Yang couldn’t resist,

_Ur gonna have 2 be able 2 lift them for that_

The quickness with which the “Weiss is typing…” notification appeared on the screen almost made Yang laugh out loud.

_You are not making a strong case here, Xiao Long._

_I’m sending Ruby._

Yang quickly typed a response.

_NO_

_No wait_

_Needs 2 be u_

_I need 2 talk to u_

It took a minute for Weiss to respond.

_Alright, fine._

_I’ll be there in a few minutes._

Yang sighed and walked over to her bag and pulled out some athletic tape. She began taping up her left hand as she waited for Weiss.

-x-

Weiss arrived about ten minutes later, dressed in Haven sweats. Yang waved her over to where she was standing in front of a punching bag suspended from the ceiling. Weiss made her way over and Yang could sense her huffiness from where she was standing.

“Alright, I’m here, what do you need me to do?” She had her hands on her hips and had her eyebrows raised in a way Yang was familiar with: Halfway to exasperation. Yang gestured to the punching bag.

“Can you brace this for me?” Weiss rolled her eyes and walked around to the bag’s other side. She braced it with her right forearm and left hand, leaning to her left a bit so that she could see Yang in front of her. “Ready?” Weiss nodded.

“Yes, but if you knock me over, I’m leaving and then actually sending Ruby down here instead.” Yang snorted.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.” She winked, if only out of habit.

“You’re a child.”

Yang smirked and began throwing punches at the bag, three at a time: two quick jabs with her right fist, and one more powerful one with her left, then she’d switch sides. After a few minutes, Yang looked up at Weiss and took a deep breath. She was looking at her expectantly, eyes narrowed with concern. Yang figured it wouldn’t help if she delayed talking. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

“So I’m in love with Blake.”

“No shit.” Yang nearly choked at the bluntness of Weiss’ response.

“What do you mean ‘no shit’!?” It was a good thing the only other person in the dojo had headphones on.

“Yang, you’ve been staring at her like a slack-jawed idiot for three weeks.”

“I’m definitely not that obvious!”

“Maybe to people _other_ than your teammates!” Yang couldn’t actually argue with that…

“…Okay, okay. Fine.” Yang’s third punch made Weiss grunt and she shot Yang a warning glare. She forced herself to be gentler. “Do you think I should tell her?” Weiss hesitated for a moment.

“Why shouldn’t you?”

Yang sighed. “I don’t know how that would change things between us… Right now I’m just getting used to whatever “us” is with her, again, and like… What if we fuck that up? What if…” Yang grimaced as her voice faltered. She stared at the cracked, red-leather surface of the punching bag as her fists made contact with it. She swallowed. “What if all I'm doing is setting myself up for her to just... hurt me again?” _Run again._ Her left hand began to shake. She quickly turned away from Weiss and the bag, grabbing her left wrist and holding it tight with her metal hand. She gripped it so hard it hurt, but it wouldn’t stop shaking. She felt a hand on her back.

“Yang…” Weiss’ voice was laden with concern. Yang closed her eyes and tried to calm down. It took her a bit, but she eventually turned to face Weiss.

“Sorry—” Weiss hugged her before she could get another word in.

“Don’t be sorry, dumbass.” Weiss pulled away after a few seconds but kept her hands on Yang’s arms. “Blake isn’t going to leave again. You have got to realize that by now. We already had this conversation.”

“I know, I know! ... Its not that... Well it is, but, fuck, what if I'm just wrong? We haven't even really talked about everything that's happened, I don't even know _how_ to talk about what happened, what I went through. I'm fine waiting until we're ready to to have that talk to really get why all that happened, but I can't stop thinking about her, I don't know what to fucking do!”

"You don't need all the answers, Yang." Weiss fired back.

"Yeah, but I'm sick of not having any!" Yang stepped out of Weiss' grip on her arms and walked toward the punching bag. "I'm sick of doubting myself," she threw a punch at the bag "I'm tired of being so fucking afraid!" Her right fist hit the bag so hard that the shock reverberated through the metal and made the rest of her arm feel numb, tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. 

"Then listen to me you stubborn shithead!" Weiss pushed her away from the punching bag and moved in close, glaring up at Yang, who was honestly thrown off by Weiss' ferocity. "The _last_ person you have to be afraid of is Blake. You might not be able to get it through your thick head, Yang, but Blake cares about you. And if you don't think _she_ is feeling just as afraid of hurting you, or the rest of us, as you are of getting hurt by her, then you are dumber than I thought."

Yang would've been offended if Weiss wasn't so godsdamn right... Yang was always impressed by the way Weiss could pinpoint exactly what hurt the most and make her talk about it. Therapy was probably not the best potential career path for Weiss, but sometimes straight-to-the-point was the best way to get to the root of Yang’s problems. She thought it was funny that only a couple years ago she thought she would never like this girl, all prissy and stuck-up. Now she could hardly live without her friendship.

"Listen, Yang," Weiss' voice had gotten a bit gentler "we're a team, a family, all of us. And we can count on each other despite the slew of problems that families always have. You should tell Blake how you feel, if she was in your place, I know you would want her do do the same." Weiss sighed and then smiled, a rare, genuine smile that Yang couldn’t help but return, even as teary-eyed as she was.

“Thanks, Weiss… I definitely needed that.” 

After Yang enveloped Weiss in a hug that was far too tight, causing Weiss to squirm and complain, the two spent another hour or so in the dojo. Yang ended up unexpectedly spent at the end of her workout, and she and Weiss returned to their dorm just in time for Yang to pass out on her bunk. It turned out to be the most peaceful sleep Yang had in months.

-x-

Blake had been sitting at one of the desks in their dorm room, studying, while Weiss sat at the identical desk on the other side of the room, and Ruby lounged on her bunk, doing the same as Blake. It was quiet, save for the faint music emanating from Ruby’s headphones, and Weiss’ pen scratching against her paper as she wrote. Blake was having trouble focusing, her mind still stuck on Yang. She had hoped studying would keep her occupied enough to stop her mind from wandering, but surprise; it didn’t.

The sound of Weiss’ scroll vibrating suddenly made her ears perk up. She glanced over at Weiss who grunted in irritation and put her pen down to look at the notification. She raised an eyebrow as she read the text and started to turn in her chair as she typed a response.

She stopped in the middle of standing up from the chair after reading what must’ve been a reply, and furiously typed something back before promptly heading over to Ruby. Before she could get their leader’s attention, she looked down at her scroll again and sighed. She furrowed her brows as she typed again, and slowly made her way over to the closet. She began throwing a sweatshirt and sweatpants over her undershirt and Haven shorts.

“I’m going to go spot for Yang in the dojo.” She announced to the room.

“Okay.” Blake tilted her head. Yang usually asked Ruby to do that, since Weiss usually made a show of complaining about it. Ruby removed her headphones and leaned down from her bunk.

“What’d you say, Weiss?” Weiss rolled her eyes.

“I’m going down to the dojo to help Yang.”

“Oh! You don’t want me to go do it?”

“No, I’ll do it… I need a distraction from this ridiculous homework anyway.” Weiss pocketed her scroll and said nothing more on the subject before leaving the room. Ruby watched her leave, a curious look on her face.

“Hmm…” She eventually shrugged and put her headphones back on, turning her attention back to her books.

Blake tried to do the same, but after twenty minutes of staring at words on a page and taking none of it in, she gave up with an irritated sigh. She closed her textbook and trudged over to her bed, flopping down onto it. Blake buried her face into her pillow and groaned. Why did she have to be so terrible at figuring Yang out? In just a month, Yang had gone from wanting nothing to do with her, to smiling adoringly at her when she did something as simple as choose to eat lunch next to her. Blake couldn’t imagine how anyone could just do that so quickly!

Everything about Yang was like that; fast and intense. But Blake knew she had a side to her that only a few people had the privilege of knowing about. It was the side of Yang that could tell how Blake was feeling by the tiniest inconsistency, the most minute change in her voice, or change in body language. It was also the side she had completely fucked over.

But Blake still had no idea how to get a read on that particular side of Yang. Even after being so close to her for as long as she had been. Blake turned her head to the left so she could actually breathe without being suffocated by her pillow. That’s when she saw Ruby looking at her with her eyebrows raised, looking perplexed. When her eyes caught Blake’s she smiled sheepishly and pulled her headphones off her ears.

“You okay, Blake? You seem kinda...pissed off?” Blake closed her eyes and sat up, brushing her hair behind one of her human ears.

“I’m not angry, Ruby.” Blake hesitated before allowing herself to continue. Maybe Ruby could help her? “Just frustrated.” Ruby gave her a “knowing” look, nodding stoically.

“It’s the homework isn’t it.” Blake chuckled at that and shook her head.

“No, Ruby, it’s not the homework.” Blake chewed on her bottom lip. Did she really want to get Ruby involved in her personal problems? She was still unsure as she continued. “It’s Yang…”

Ruby took her headphones off completely, setting them down on her bed. She then hopped deftly off of her bunk and walked right up to Blake, silver eyes blinking down at her. For a second, Blake was afraid she had made Ruby upset, but that thought quickly disappeared as Ruby took both her hands in her own.

“Wanna talk about it?” Ruby asked. Blake snorted in spite of herself, smiling up at her team leader. Maybe talking to Ruby about this would do some good.

“Yeah, If that's alright?” Ruby's eyes seemed to light up with the reply and she began to pull Blake out of her bunk.

"Come sit with me then." When Blake was fully up off the bed Ruby let go of her hands and scurried over to the kotatsu table and sat down on a cushion and patted the table as an invitation. Blake sat down across from Ruby and watched as she turned on the heating element, the silence in the room replaced with a gentle whirring noise.

"So... you're okay talking with me about your sister?" Blake's left ear twitched as she idly fiddled with the edge of the blanket covering her legs. 

“Totally! Who better to give advice about their sibling than, well, a sibling?” Ruby smiled. “Also, I’ve kinda wanted to talk to you too.” Blake tilted her head.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, see when I was travelling with Jaune, Ren, and Nora, I noticed they were all really in tune with each other’s emotions, and I feel like now that team RWBY’s back together, as team leader I should try to understand how everyone is feeling… more.” She rambled on, “And since I’m Weiss’ partner I pretty much know what she’s feeling most of the time, and I already know how Yang feels a lot, since we grew up together and stuff, so I really want to make an effort to understand, um, you!”

“Huh.” Blake raised her eyebrows. Ruby really did surprise her with how aware she was of certain things. Despite being two years younger than her other teammates, Ruby did have a striking level of emotional maturity, even if she was still a little dorky and happy-go-lucky.

“Sorry if that came out weird, it’s just that we don’t actually talk a lot, and I don’t want you to think that I don’t want to, 'cause I do!”

“Its alright.” Blake chuckled. “I’m sorry I haven’t made more of an effort to talk to you either, Ruby”

“It’s ok! We have time now!” She beamed up at Blake. “Sooo—what’s making you frustrated with Yang?” Blake took in a deep breath, like she was about to take a dive, and was unsure if she would be able resurface.

“I’m… I love her.” She let the breath out.

“And… you wanna know if she loves you back?” Ruby asked, unphased. The ease with which Ruby received that admission nearly gave Blake whiplash.

“I, um… Wait, Ruby, you’re not… Surprised at all?” Blake watched Ruby’s curious expression change back into a smile.

“Nope!” Upon seeing Blake’s eyes narrow suspiciously, Ruby elaborated. “I don’t know exactly what's going on with you guys but… You’ve always seemed like you really care about each other. Even when you were so secretive and didn’t want to get us caught up in what was going on with the White Fang, Yang always knew when something was bothering you, and knew exactly how to fix it! And you looked like you appreciated it a whole lot… I kinda just figured you did after a while.” Ruby scratched the back of her head, and after a moment, continued. “Yang was so sad when you left, it looked like way more than just missing a friend, it was like she lost someone she loved.”

Blake blinked a few times, bewildered at the way Ruby could speak so casually about a topic like this. She’d also implied…

“So… you think Yang feels like I do about her?” Blake asked, her heart starting to beat faster and faster.

“Yep.” She put a finger to her lips, considering something. “Are you scared?” Her tone was still curious but held a startlingly serious air.

“Huh?”

“I mean,” Ruby waved at the air like she was dismissing a thought. “Are you scared to tell Yang how you feel?” If Blake was being honest…

“Yeah.” So very much.

“I don’t think you should be, Blake. You’re really cautious, ‘cause you don’t want to hurt anyone, I think, but sometimes its better to just… Go for it! Sometimes you have to take really big chances, but you know the pay-off will be well worth it.” She smiled sweetly up at Blake. What she said made so much sense that Blake almost didn’t believe something that simple was the right solution. But she knew Ruby had to be right.

Being afraid had never gotten Blake anywhere, and though being cautious allowed her to protect herself and others, there was nothing it could do to help her move forward. Being afraid only ever held her back, Blake knew. She had let herself fall back into a place where she lacked the confidence to take risks. But this solution was the exact opposite of everything she’d been trying.

Even if she couldn’t be one hundred percent sure that Yang loved her back, Blake needed to make her feelings known. Not only did she love Yang, she respected her wholeheartedly, and because of that, for Yang, she would no longer hide, and she would no longer run.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated 12/29/2019 - rewrote some parts now that I have a deeper understanding of Blake and Yang's relationship! 
> 
> I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG, Y'ALL. I wrote the first two chapters during a sort of writing binge, when I was sick for a week, so getting back to work and figuring out my next semester at college kind distracted the hell outta me! This chapter went through a LOT of revising also because i kept rewriting it over and over, ya know that feel. Anyway, hope you enjoy, the bees are in love, and next chapter will be fuckin' all fluff. Just cute shit everywhere, they deserve it! Especially because of what happens to them in the next story that features them in the prologue series.! I've already written it! It hurts!


	4. 100 Percent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love is one hell of a drug.

Blake’s talk with Ruby had eased her anxieties about exploring her feelings for Yang, but the boldness she’d felt that evening almost completely shriveled upon being presented with a chance to talk to Yang. When she walked in after her workout, she was clearly in a good mood, and Blake could’ve jumped on the chance to discuss some things with her, but Blake’s nervousness betrayed her, and she made excuses: Yang was too tired to talk, obviously, and maybe it would be better if she thought of exactly what to say before she said anything…

Waiting until the next morning turned into waiting until the next day, and then the next. That day she had furiously scribbled sentences into her notebook, things she wanted to say, but none of them felt right. She’d even lied to her team during lunch, saying she’d left some notes in Professor Murasaki’s classroom, when the reality was that if she sat next to Yang at lunch another day without saying what she needed to, she would explode.

Though pretending she wasn't avoiding Yang didn’t seem to do much of anything, and team RWBY’s last class for the day was combat practice. Their professor had a system wherein he would dictate the theme of the practice session, demonstrate the idea once, then just leave them to practice it amongst themselves. Blake wasn’t quite convinced of the effectiveness of that teaching style, but she didn’t quite mind team RWBY getting to be left alone to work freely.

Since today’s theme was “teamwork” Ruby had been excited to suggest they work on their team attacks. It had been so long since they even attempted them that a refresher would do them all good. The teams in the class made a wide berth around each other, allowing space for each of them to move freely. Weiss didn’t seem entirely sure that the duos would have enough room to actually preform the full set of moves, but Ruby reassured her, offering that it might actually be good to practice these moves in tight-quarters.

Ruby, eager to begin, pulled Blake over to her in order to preform “Ladybug.” Weiss and Yang looked on, Weiss pursing her lips, and Yang smiling in amusement. Ruby ran to the other end of their allotted practice space and she faced Blake.

“Ready?”

“Mmhm.”

On Ruby’s mark, the two dashed toward each other, striking at the same invisible target when they met at the center, then Ruby activated her semblance, and Blake felt a rush of speed as she passed her. Pivoting, the two went back and forth, getting faster and faster, and scattering black and red rose petals. When Blake hit the end of the level of speed that she could physically handle, she leapt upward, and Ruby followed suit, moving to strike downward.

Blake was surprised she pulled it off so easily. She smiled up at Ruby as adrenaline rushed through her, along with the thrill of success. They both stood up from their kneeling position and high-fived. When Blake looked over at Yang and Weiss, she caught Yang’s eye, and for a moment she stood, frozen, absorbed in the fond look she was giving her. Yang’s smile widened when Blake smiled back. They both snapped out of it when Weiss literally snapped her fingers in front of Yang’s face.

“Hello, Yang?? Ruby just said we should practice Freezerburn!” Yang laughed it off and apologetically scratched the back of her head.

“Right, right.” She flicked her gaze back to Blake. “Nice one, by the way!”

“Thanks.” Yang was then dragged off to one side by Weiss.

Ruby and Blake preformed “Ladybug” four more times, getting more synchronized each time. Eventually, Blake’s movements were as natural and practiced as when she and Ruby first created the move. They were out of breath by the time they perfected it again and decided to take a break to watch Yang and Weiss.

Instead of creating a sheet of ice, and firing Ember Celica, Weiss would yell “Now!” when she would have been ready, and Yang would launch herself downward from a jump with a bit of a flourish, and land with her fist just brushing the ground in a kneeling position. They repeated the move two more times before stopping and stretching, Weiss complaining about having to kneel for so long.

After a quick water-break, the team regrouped, and Yang and Ruby decided it was about time that they made up their own “cool team attack” and left Weiss and Blake to practice “Checkmate.” Weiss and Blake moved toward an invisible target with alternating strikes, trying to stay in sync. They struggled just a bit, and Weiss accidentally tripped once, bumping into Blake and sending them both tumbling to the ground. Blake expected Weiss to be mad, like she used to be when they would mess up this move, but instead she just peered up at Blake, looking like she was holding in a breath, and snorted. The two of them ended up laughing whole-heartedly in spite of themselves, and Blake helped Weiss up off the ground.

After their fifth round of practice, the sound of a shotgun blank-firing and a crash sounded from their right, and they both turned to face the source of the noise. Ruby was sprawled out on the ground, face down, and Yang was holding onto her sister’s scythe helplessly, a shocked look on her face.

“I’m okay!” Ruby shouted, muffled by the floor. Yang carefully put Crescent Rose down and backed away from it, lifting her sister up by her hood.

“That’s why we never switch weapons.” Ruby smiled innocently and shrugged, Ember Celica dropping unceremoniously off of her wrist. “Hey!” Yang dropped her sister to pick up her weapon, and Ruby let out an “Oof” as she fell back onto the ground. Weiss was mumbling to herself, resigned, her face hidden by her hands.

Once they plugged up Ruby’s bloody nose, class was technically over, and the other teams began to file out. Ruby, her voice sounding understandably congested, lamented that they hadn’t been able to get to “Ice Flower” or “Bumblebee,” Yang seemed equally as disappointed. Blake said nothing but she was hoping they would get to practice that particular move. Though, evidently, she wouldn’t spend too much time dwelling on that regret.

“Hey, why don’t we just stay and keep practicing, it’s not like there’s a class in here after us.” Yang pointed out. Ruby’s eyes brightened as she appeared to come to the same conclusion.

“Yeah!” Weiss, however, didn’t seem to be in love with the idea.

“Ruby you almost broke your nose just now; you need to go ice it.”

“I’m fine, Weiss, don’t worry!” Weiss frowned frustratedly, and gently flicked Ruby’s nose. “Ow!” Ruby’s eyes began to tear up involuntarily. Weiss made her point. “Fiiiiine, I’ll go to the nurse.” Ruby dejectedly began to collect her things, and Weiss looked smug for only half a second, as Blake watched her brows furrow.

“Do you even know where the nurse’s office is?”

“N… no.” Weiss sighed exasperatedly and pulled her bag onto her shoulder.

“I’ll go with you.” Weiss rolled her eyes and Blake swore she saw a smile flash quickly across her lips. “Dolt.”

Ruby brightened almost immediately and turned back to face the rest of her team. “Okay! Hey, sis, if you wanna stay and practice with Blake, you totally can, we’ll get dinner for you guys!”

“Sounds good to me!” Yang announced. She glanced back at Blake and raised an eyebrow.

“Sure.” Blake looked away from Yang to give Ruby a small smile.

-x-

“You want me to start already holding onto it, or do you wanna practice the toss too?” Yang was standing next to Blake as she attached a ribbon to Gambol Shroud, stretching her arms over her head.

“Hmm… How about we start with you holding it first, then work up to the toss later.” As Blake handed her one end of Gambol Shroud, Yang’s fingers brushed over her own. Shaking off the rush of excitement that somehow caused, Blake moved into the center of the Dojo. “Tell me when you’re ready, Yang.” Yang walked toward one of the Dojo’s walls until the ribbon was almost taut, and got ready to run, bending her knees and leaning forward slightly.

“Alright, let’s go.” Yang took off at a full sprint, pulling on the ribbon. Once she reached a certain point on her circular track, Blake started to turn, holding tightly onto Gambol Shroud’s other end. Yang tugged on the ribbon again to let Blake know she was going to leap up into a kick, and Blake pulled hard. As Yang jumped, Blake spun, digging her heel into the ground to stabilize herself. Yang was airborne for about three seconds, miming a running motion, each thrust of her leg a strong kick. She then landed, almost tripping, but managing to keep her balance as she gradually slowed down her momentum.

“Woo! Yeah!” Yang had a huge grin plastered on her face and looked over at Blake with a glint in her eye. “Good thing you’re not rusty!” Blake rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t help but smile, feeding off Yang’s excitement. “Let’s go again, faster this time.”

“Okay.” Blake got back into position and watched Yang sprint off—or at least start to. Yang abruptly stopped causing Blake to stumble a bit.

“Wait!”

 “Huh—?”

“Let’s make this more fun!” Yang jogged over to her bag after throwing her end of Gambol Shroud back over to Blake. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to like where this was going. Yang ran back over into her range with Ember Celica on her left wrist, in its activated mode.

“Yang, we’re indoors, you do realize that, right?” Blake raised an eyebrow as Yang scoffed.

“Pff, yeah, I know, but Ruby mentioned practicing close-quarters fighting, and I want to try it with some propulsion!” she held up her wrists. Blake made a face, uncertain that this would go as well as Yang thought. But Yang usually wouldn’t listen until she was faced with physical proof in scenarios like this. Fine, Blake supposed the worst thing that could happen was they would just fail to do the move, or trip and fall.

Blake bunched up some of Gambol Shroud’s ribbon in her hand, shortening the length of the ribbon, in order to simulate a “close combat” situation. Yang took hold of its other end and started her sprint. It was immediately apparent to Blake that “Bumblebee” would pack a significantly less amount of power this close, and would require less of a buildup to speed, Yang might not even need to sprint to get started, and okay, never mind, she was doing that anyway.

Yang fired her weapon and was propelled into the air, and Blake dug her heel into the mats underfoot again. Then everything went wrong. The spin was wobbly, and the ribbon was harder to control this close up, and Yang ended up flying around her far too fast. Gambol Shroud’s ribbon began to wrap around her shoulders.

“Yang, stop!” But as Blake cried out, she realized she was losing her footing. And then she tripped, jerking on the ribbon in a reflexive effort to grab onto something. She was wide-eyed as she fell flat on her back.

And that was when Yang was yanked sideways by her grip on the other end of Gambol shroud, letting go of it far too late to be safe from tripping as well. She yelped as she landed, her cheek making contact with Blake’s fists, which were gripping tightly onto the ribbon.

“Oww…” Yang reached up to rub her cheek, but Blake was immobile, trapped not only by her partner on top of her, but also by Gambol Shroud’s ribbon, which had bound her wrists tight to her chest. She was also still wide-eyed, her lips now pursed nervously. She watched as Yang opened her eyes and assessed the scene before her. A blush spread across Blake’s cheeks under Yang’s gaze, her Faunus ears flat atop her head.

Yang made no effort to get up. Blake could feel Yang’s breathing; fast, just like her own heartbeat. Her lavender eyes searched Blake’s golden ones. For what, Blake wasn’t entirely sure, but with Yang leaning down over her like this, her head got cloudy, and her vision felt hyper-focused. Blake wasn’t sure how her face looked, but whatever expression she had assumed made Yang blush too. Nevertheless, she remained completely still.

Blake felt her lips part slightly as she kept looking at Yang’s face. A faint purple bruise was beginning to form on her right cheek, not too big, thankfully. The air between them felt like it was heating up as the seconds passed. Her eyes flicked to Yang’s lips as Yang quickly licked them. Suddenly, she felt as though she needed to do  _something,_ or she wouldn’t be able to stand the tension any longer. Yang blinked, but everything felt like it was in slow-motion. Blake wanted so badly to speed up time. Make a move. All she could hear was her heartbeat.

Yang’s ringtone made both girls nearly jump out of their skin. Yang’s face was beet-red as she sat up onto her knees and fumbled for her scroll. She retrieved it and almost dropped it as she tried to open it.

“Hey!” Her voice trembled. Blake watched, silent, as Yang listened to the voice on the other end.

“Uh. Can you get, like, that chicken stuff we had last time? Yeah, the spicy one… Yeah, I’ll ask her.” Yang sighed and held the scroll away from her ear. She gulped before looking down at Blake. “What do you want for dinner?” Though the air around the girls felt less tense, Blake was stuck gaping at her. It took her a second to form a response.

“I’ll… just have soup.”

“Okay.” Yang brought the scroll back up to her ear. “She wants soup. Eh, you guys know what she likes. … Ask Weiss, Rubes. … Okay, love you too, bye.” Yang avoided eye-contact as she slipped her scroll back into her pocket. Blake could see that she was still breathing fast, and her face was still as red as it had been when they were interrupted.

A few painful seconds passed before Yang said anything else.

“So… Um—”

“Can you help me get out of this?” Blake nodded to her wrists.

“Yeah, sure.” Still trying what Blake assumed was her damnedest not to look her in the eye, Yang helped loosen the ribbon binding Blake’s hands. In just a few moments, with Yang’s help, Blake managed to wriggle out of Gambol Shroud’s ribbon.

“Thanks.”

“Welcome.” Yang then risked a look into Blake’s eyes. Yang’s own went wide as Blake’s newly-freed hands suddenly grabbed her by the lapels. “Huh—”

Messily, desperately, Blake’s lips smashed into Yang’s. A few milliseconds of icy fear shot through Blake’s heart, but it was quickly melted by Yang wrapping her arms around her and kissing back. This wasn’t exactly how Blake was hoping to express her feelings, but she seriously couldn’t have taken it anymore. And, to Blake’s relief, Yang more than reciprocated.

Emotions flooded through the both of them, like a dam breaking, and neither of them wanted to stop; their lips slotting together like they were made to. Yang’s embrace was warm and even though Blake was sweaty from practice, she never wanted her to let go. Blake practically melted into the kiss, into Yang’s arms, and Yang was pleased to hold her just so. Her hands eventually found purchase in Blake’s hair, stroking it, and occasionally running her hands over Blake’s feline ears.

What felt like an eternity passed when they parted. They were both breathless, and as Blake was captured by Yang’s gaze, she saw so much affection in her eyes. Blake hoped her own gaze projected the love she felt welling up in her chest, as the two sat, holding one another, catching their breath. After a few moments, she felt Yang’s head tilt ever so slightly as she formed a question.

“Blake…” She stroked Blake’s hair idly. “Are you sure you want all this this?” When Blake furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, Yang continued. “Like, us in a relationship, like this.” Their foreheads were touching which made Yang’s gesture with her head feel like a soft headbutt. Blake blinked a few times and looked down, chewing on her bottom lip. She felt so right with Yang, so natural, familiar, and safe. She wanted to say yes so badly, to give into the waves of affection that felt like they were overwhelming her.

But was it really the best thing for them? Was she even ready for a relationship like the one Yang was offering? The decision wasn’t so easy, and Yang seemed to be just as aware of that as she was. The way she waited patiently for a response, her breathing returning to normal as Blake’s heart slowed down to a normal pace. Blake felt a sting in her eyes; tears. She took a few deep breaths, and Yang noticed, the hand in Blake’s hair resuming its stroking motion.

“Yang, I… I want to say yes. But... I’m not sure. I’m not… I-I don’t know.” Blake reached up and wiped away the tears that were threatening to fall. She let herself be pulled closer, into a hug.

“It’s okay, I get it. You don’t have to give me an answer right now.” To Blake’s relief there was no bitterness in Yang’s voice, no disappointment. Just understanding. “I want you to be sure.” Yang pulled away and gently lifted Blake’s chin with her fingers in order to look her in the eyes. “Okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” Blake managed a small smile, and Yang returned it. She looked as if she was about to lean closer, but she stopped herself.

“Is it cool if I kiss you again?” Blake’s cheeks were aflame once more; not only was she flustered at the thought of kissing Yang again, but the fact that Yang seemed to have stopped herself in order to ask permission… for consent. Blake was shamelessly into that. She nodded.

Yang leaned in and softly pressed her lips against Blake’s. This kiss was different than the previous one, gentle, less rushed. It hid no fear, and it made Blake feel like she was floating. When they parted, Blake took a moment to actually open her eyes, blinking repeatedly, like she was coming down from a high. Yang was watching her, clearing her throat to hide a smile.

“Wanna go eat?”

“Mmhm.”

The two helped each other up and after stowing their weapons they picked up their things and made their way back to the dorm. Weiss and Ruby were already back, and in the middle of eating. After they greeted each other, and Weiss loudly commented that Yang needed a shower, they ate, Yang wolfing down her meal so that Weiss would stop teasing her about how much she smelled like the dojo. Yang stuck her tongue out at her as she grabbed a pair of pajamas and entered their tiny bathroom. Blake laughed at the exchange, feeling strangely giddy, unburdened by her usual anxiety.

-x-

Once the rest of the team finished their meals, they readied for bed. None of them were particularly tired, and Blake found herself sitting at the edge of her bed, combing her still-damp hair, watching Yang walk ruby through some homework at the kotatsu table. Once again, her vision seemed to tunnel, only focusing on Yang. Her hair was pulled back and thrown over one shoulder, showing her neck. To say it looked “inviting” would be far too embarrassing for Blake to admit, but still…

She shook her head and fought a stubborn knot in her hair with her comb. She needed to stop thinking like that if she was going to actually decide whether or not to go through with dating her partner. She needed to think logically. Thoughts that did not include burying her face into Yang’s neck and breathing in her scent, and trailing kisses all the way up to her jaw. Blake rolled her eyes at herself and tried to focus on her hair.

Once everyone had finally gone to bed, Blake did her best to try and sleep, but her brain was far from restful. Possible scenarios in which she confessed her feelings, or long conversations where she didn’t do so until the very end, just giving up, or just insisting on keeping it casual… No, that wouldn’t do. She was deep, deep in love. There was no forgetting it or ignoring it. She would tell Yang, and soon. She made that a promise to herself. She shut her eyes tightly and held onto that thought.

She was snapped out of her own head by movement from the bunk above. Yang sounded like she was thrashing in her sleep. Blake’s ears twitched as she heard Yang quietly mumble. It didn’t sound like she was saying anything specific, but as she continued to listen, she heard a few more mumbles, then one low shout. Blake furrowed her brows, worried, and then she heard Yang sit up abruptly, breathing heavy. Did she have a nightmare? Her question was answered as Yang climbed down from her bunk and stood in front of Blake’s bed.

“Blake, you awake?” She whispered. Her voice wasn’t easy to describe, it was shaky and resigned.

“Yes.”

“Can I, like…” She swallowed. Blake didn’t need her to continue.

“Yeah.” Blake scooched over and Yang immediately crawled into bed with her, wrapping her arms around Blake’s shoulders and holding her as close as she could. It was then Blake noticed Yang was shaking. “Yang…” Blake didn’t need to be told why, as she felt a pit in her stomach. “Yang, it’s okay, it wasn’t real. I'm right here.” Yang’s arms tightened almost painfully around her.

“Please stay…” Blake almost didn’t hear her, Yang’s voice muffled by her shoulder, but as those words reached her, her cheeks quickly became wet with tears.

“I-I will, I swear. I’m not leaving.” Blake choked back a sob. “I’m never leaving again, I promise.” She curled into Yang, both of them now shuddering, trembling quietly. “I promise.” For a few moments, the only sounds in the room were Blake’s uneven breaths and Yang trying to hold back sobs of her own. Yang waited until she could stop crying to say anything else.

“I know.” Her voice was ragged, and she sniffed, rubbing her eyes with her hand. She pressed her forehead to Blake’s and held her as she closed her eyes. Blake felt emotionally exhausted, and even with her nose still puffy from crying, she quickly fell asleep.

-x-

The next few days were hectic, and team RWBY barely had a moment to breathe while they busied themselves studying for final exams and writing final papers. Particularly, the final for Professor Murasaki’s class was unconventional compared to what team RWBY was used to. The assignment required each student to identify, by image alone, a specimen housed in the Mistral Botanical Gardens. They were given free access to the gardens with their student IDs and a week to produce the name and a 3 page essay on the specimen’s uses.  

It was about as exciting as it sounded, but the bright side was that team RWBY had unfettered access to the gardens. The Mistral Botanical Gardens were breathtaking: A cluster of vast greenhouses made of colored glass and wrought-iron. With Greens, pinks, and blues the glass dyed the rays of light that came in through every direction. Some of the ceiling was open to the air, and trees sprouted past the roof, vines cascading across the glass. Through the center of the main greenhouse, a small brook ran from end to end, settling in a small pond enclosed by railings made to lean on and look out over the water lilies from Lake Matsu.

That was where Blake stood, currently, absently doodling in the margins of her notes. She looked up from her notebook as someone settled back against the railing next to her. A bright smile greeted her, and lavender eyes reflected the colorful sunrays peeking through the trees overhead.

“Hey.”

“Hi.” Blake closed her notebook and kneeled down to stuff it into the bag by her feet.

“This is so boring.” Yang sighed.

“Yeah… It’s beautiful though.” Blake remarked as she stood up and leaned forward onto the railing again. The quiet din of the visitors in the gardens and the babbling brook filled the air as Yang appeared to consider her comment.

“It is pretty beautiful.” Yang’s eyes didn’t leave Blake as she spoke, her gaze travelling lazily downward until she suddenly snapped it back up to Blake’s eyes. Blake raised an inquisitive eyebrow. Suddenly Yang’s cheeks grew pink and she faced forward, stifling a fake cough with her fist. Blake almost giggled, reaching up to cover her smile with her fingertips. Recovering from her own awkwardness quickly, Yang looked a bit smug as she glanced over at Blake again. “The garden is pretty too.”

Blake rolled her eyes, but she could feel her own cheeks heating up. Blake adjusted her hands on the railing absently and her hand brushed against Yang’s, neither of them moved for a moment. Both of them could feel the tension as the colored sunshine dappled their faces. Yang’s eyes asked and Blake answered, leaning in to kiss her parted lips. Her eyelids slid closed as Yang met her in the middle, her fingers intertwining with Blake’s over the railing.

The kiss was slow, languid, and Blake could taste Yang’s peach-flavored Chapstick. Blake untangled their fingers so she could reach up and cup Yang’s jaw in her right hand, gently coaxing her to move in closer. She complied, leaning downward a touch more, her hair spilled over her shoulder. Blake reflexively pushed some of those golden locks back behind Yang’s ear. She felt a puff of air hit her upper lip as Yang tried to stifle a little chuckle. Blake smiled against her lips.

Her heart was racing as she pulled back to look up at Yang who was smiling right back. It was so easy, in that moment, for Blake to say she loved her. The phrase was burning in her mind. _I love you._ Her heart felt like it would explode if she didn’t say it, say anything, anything at all.

“Yang, I—” Once again Yang’s ringer sent a jolt through the both of them. Yang fished her scroll out of her pocket and answered it quickly, turning so her back was to the railing again. Her right hand reached out to gently take hold of Blake’s even still.

“Yeah, hi, Rubes. Okay, okay slow down, holy—what do you mean “language” I didn’t say anything! Okay, no, yeah, I’m kinda hungry too. Five minutes, ok? I just gotta write a couple more things down… Oh ha, ha, very funny, I’ma get you for that you little shit. Pff, ok, love you, bye.” Yang let out a sigh after she hung up her scroll.

She turned back to Blake, taking hold of her other hand in the process.

“Yang…” Suddenly Blake was unable to speak. The rush that had possessed her just seconds ago had given way to uncertainty. Apparently picking up on that, Yang pulled her into a gentle hug.

“’S okay.”

After a few seconds, Blake pulled away from the hug, just processing something.

“Hold on, you told Ruby you were going to finish up notes… You’re not, are you?”

“Nope.” Yang smiled slyly down at her, “I am gonna do this though.” and then kissed her.

Blake rolled her eyes and kissed back, giving Yang’s bottom lip a little nip before pulling her back in close.

-x-

Finals were over, and the students of Haven Academy were exhausted but relieved as the school prepared to take a break for winter.

Funnily enough, the last day of the semester proved to be the most hectic of them all. Jaune had been planning how team JNR would spend their winter vacation, and as events fell into place, team RWBY had been roped into said vacation plans. Those plans involved travelling to Argus, to see Jaune’s sister, who had generously offered to help him pay for a pair of hotel rooms for the lot of them. Apparently, Saphron Cotta-Arc’s wife made a pretty penny working for the Argus communications tower.

So team RWBY packed the essentials, leaving only some things in their dorm, as it would not be disturbed on the short break from classes. The two teams made a show of sharing some items, lending each other clothes, soap, etc. The teams would be taking a train to Argus, apparently, the Argus Limited. None of them had ever been on such a luxurious mode of transport before, and they were beyond excited.

Qrow, begrudgingly, decided to supervise them to the station, but only there. He still had business in Mistral, likely with Lionheart, and stayed.

The train ride would take an entire day and night to get to Argus, so the teams settled down in their respective rooms, complete with bunks that were even smaller than the ones at Haven. For once, nothing disturbed them, and while Weiss browsed her scroll in order to find the best stores in Argus, and Ruby beat up virtual ninjas, Blake and Yang decided to check out the dining car. On the way, as the two walked down the several passenger cars between their car and lunch, Blake slipped her hand into Yang’s.

“Yang…”

“Hm?”

“I love you.” Blake was very proud that she managed to keep walking while Yang froze in her tracks. Blake stopped, and turned around to face her. Yang’s lavender eyes were wide, and her face was hard to read, outwardly shocked.

“You mean it?”

“Yes. I mean it.” Blake allowed Yang to take her hands into her own. Like flipping a switch, Yang’s demeanor changed, and the smile she wore nearly radiated sunlight.

“Well guess what.” Blake bit her lip to hold back a smile of her own.

“What?” Her heart was fluttering.

“I love you too.” Blake couldn’t stop the smile from reaching her lips that time.

“You mean it?”

“Yeah, I mean it.” Blake surprised her with a quick peck on the lips. But Yang chased it when she pulled back, taking the opportunity to lightly bite Blake’s bottom lip. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to say that.” Blake giggled at the sheer coincidence.

“I can take a guess.” Yang gave her another kiss.

“You’d be wrong.”

“Oh?”

“Mmhm.”

“Maybe you could just tell me, then.” Yang smirked playfully at that. It was a look that filled Blake’s insides with butterflies.

“Maybe.” Yang took her hand again and started walking, continuing on toward the dining car. “But that’s something I figure is best discussed on a date; don’t you think?” Blake blushed in spite of herself.

“That sounds about right.”

They were both overcome with blushes and fluttering hearts through lunch. Their  _date_. They both felt giddy as they ate and talked. Their walk back to the sleeping car was a little longer than anticipated, mostly because they could not keep their hands off each other in the best way possible.

When they turned in for the night along with the rest of team RWBY, Yang skipped the formalities and climbed into Blake’s bed immediately. The other two members of their team reacted rather unexpectedly.

“Finally!” Weiss sighed dramatically as she plopped down onto her own bunk and promptly faced the opposite direction. Yang belly-laughed at the display and Blake tilted her head, utterly confused. Ruby smiled down at them from her bunk silently. It was sweet, and Blake couldn’t deny that it also showed a rather knowing quality.

Blake slept soundly that night, despite the constant hum of the Argus Limited’s inner mechanisms and the slight jostling of the car. Her arms were wrapped around Yang’s waist, and her head was nestled in the crook of Yang’s neck. Yang’s left arm encircled her shoulders protectively, and she was still for most of the night, seemingly spared from any bad dreams. When Blake woke up it was just before the sun would crest the horizon. The soft light coming through the gap in the curtains of the train car window illuminated Yang’s face, her bangs were mussed up, and she was softly snoring. Blake didn’t think she’d ever seen anything so beautiful. It hit her then, that she could call Yang hers, and that thought felt like home.

-x-

Three days into the winter vacation and Argus experienced a sort of heat-spell. The air was not quite brisk, and the dusting of snow they’d had days prior melted in the afternoon sun. It was the perfect light for reading, Blake thought. She needed a break from all the commotion inside the Cotta-Arc household. Lunch had been pleasant, but afterword, there wasn’t much to do until the next meal.

The rest of her team had been content talking, and fawning over Adrian, the Cotta-Arc’s baby. Yang and Weiss were especially captivated by the little one, and Blake couldn’t help but find it extremely adorable. But as much as she wanted to she couldn’t very well lovingly stare at Yang baby-talking Adrian all afternoon, so she decided she would read for a spell in their back garden.

It was beautiful out there; a small pond took up most of the far side, a birdbath stood in front of it. Ivy climbed up the veranda and potted blue roses alongside yellow primrose flanked the doorway. Blake took up a spot below the large tree, to the right, full-leaved despite the winter months, it was laden with fruit, lemons, probably over-ripe in the late season. As Blake began reading her book, she was occasionally distracted by a curious number of blue butterflies, attracted to the fruit overhead.

As one of them landed on the spine of her book, the door to the veranda slid open. Yang stepped out, closing the door behind her. Her face lit up upon seeing Blake, and she jumped down from the veranda, walking over to where she was sitting. Yang’s shoulder pressed up against her own as she leaned back against the lemon tree, Blake smiled up at her.

“Hey, you alright?” Yang took one of her hands and interlaced her fingers with hers.

“Just needed some air.” Blake lifted her hand in order to kiss the back of Yang’s. “Did you come out here just to check on me?”

“What, is that a crime? I can’t be curious about how my girlfriend’s feeling?” Girlfriend. That word falling so easily past Yang’s lips still made her stomach feel like it was full of those blue butterflies.

“Of course not, in fact, consider me flattered.” Blake smiled slyly and Yang chuckled before leaning down to kiss Blake’s forehead. A few moments of silence proceeded, it was a comfortable silence, pleasant in nature. Yang’s head dropped to rest on Blake’s shoulder, and her thumb absently stroked the back of Blake’s hand. Blake felt like she could spend an eternity like this, and she gladly would.

“Yang.”

“Mm?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Blake stopped paying attention to her book a little while after that. Her heart was so full of love, unlike ever before. With Yang right next to her, she became all that occupied Blake’s thoughts. The thought of her love, unrivaled and undaunted. It was blissful, it was dreamlike, and Blake drank in the moment, trying to make it a permanent fixture in her mind. She let herself relax and rested her head against Yang’s, watching as those blue butterflies danced around in the light of the sun.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated 1/8/20
> 
> Eyyy, it's done! Thank y'all for being so patient with me, This chapter was tough to plan out but i think it turned out 'aight! I tried to squeeze as much lovey-dovey stuff in as I could! This is the last chapter of the fic (I MIGHT WRITE SOME ONE-SHOT CHAPTERS FOR THIS IN THE FUTURE, WE'LL SEE.) but there will be more Bumbleby-centric prologue fics, the one that follows this is rather painful. It is about as dark as my writing has ever gotten, both emotionally and in theme. This story is fluff-stuffed for a reason! to counteract the sad!  
> The next fic will involve Adam and will serve as the equivalent to the episode in Vol 6 where they have their last battle. So if you do not want to read a fic that is painful for EVERYONE INVOLVED, INCLUDING ME, THE AUTHOR, I would skip it, since it is the next one in the series. But anyway, thank you all so much for reading, I will post more soon!

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is part of a larger AU that I will eventually be writing. In short, certain events were changed in RWBY's canon to allow the characters to be able to attend Haven Academy and get their Huntress Licences! This prologue details how Blake and yang become girlfriends in the aforementioned AU. Questions about the AU are welcome, you can also find me on xtracurricular-rwby.tumblr.com (probably easier than here.)


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